Johnny G, Unger, and myself got in 3 quality hours of riding at Falcon Lake last Friday. Did a couple of laps of the race course, paid a brief visit to the Top of the World, and spent time working at a few of the more technical sections. I'm happy to say I was finally able to nail that rocky climb that comes just after the boardwalks. Won't way how many tries it took. I'm just happy that the practice paid itself off with some tangible results. I have found that this is not always the case--e.g., the little Buffalo Jump loop kept messing with me no matter how many times we did it. We'll see how things go at the race this Sunday. My legs are feeling a bit achy right now, perhaps from refusing to admit just how much ground can be lost by two weeks off the bike, but it feels like the lungs are starting to come around a bit. Still a long way to go, but there's a few good months of riding left--not to mention the upcoming FGBC fall race series. So no need to give up on the season just yet.
Speaking of the FGBC race series, it seems we have identified at least three venues that would be worthy of a short race: Birds Hill Park (the Wednesday night course), Whittier Park, and Garbage Hill. More can be added if there is evidence of interest. With all the singlespeeds popping up (by my count Hal, Unger, Marls and myself are already equipped, with Johnny G to join us soon), we may have to include some sort of ss race in the schedule as well. Or perhaps we could just give some bonus points in the FGBC Cup standings to those who compete on ss. Will work at scheduling over the next little while, starting sometime after the Ultimate season comes to a close. Get it on the radar screen.
Should also mention that we came up with a new event to keep us amused at future Bike Club outings. Pick a relatively technical section of trail (e.g., Top of the World, portions of Ingolf, etc). Everyone starts with a case of beer in the bank (I take it Johnny G will work something out with our sponsors on this point). Every time you put your foot down, you lose one beer. If you end up with negative numbers, that will go towards the beer fund for future events. Always looking for ways to improve riding skills.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Ride on Friday
I'm back in town and feeling generally out of shape. Bukit Kiara was a blast, but one ride in two weeks is not enough. Rode Whittier on Sunday and am feeling a bit sore, which is not a good sign. So I will be riding at Falcon Lake on Friday. Unger and Johnny G will possibly be riding as well. Anyone else is more than welcome to join us. Meet at the chalet. Time: TBD (call one of us).
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Bukit Kiara
Greetings from Kuala Lumpur. Thanks to a series of extremely fortunate events, I was able to get a bit of a taste of the local culture here--mtbike wise. Rode for 2.5 hours at a place called Bukit Kiara. My guide was a very fine fellow named Pat, who just happens to hail from Saskatchewan. Has the singltrack of Birch combined with the roots of Thunderhill. Vegetation wise, kind of like riding in that stinky place at the zoo. Except the weather was hotter and more humid, by far. I don't think I've ever sweated that much in my life. Saw a few monkey like creatures, which was cool.
Will write more later, perhaps. Must go for now. Save some stickers for me, Mark. I'm back on Saturday and am looking forward to it. Felt pretty out of shape riding, so will have to kick up the training a notch or two for the last few Cup races.
Will write more later, perhaps. Must go for now. Save some stickers for me, Mark. I'm back on Saturday and am looking forward to it. Felt pretty out of shape riding, so will have to kick up the training a notch or two for the last few Cup races.
Monday, July 26, 2004
Dr. K comes up big and news about the other FGBC
Great excitement at the meeting. Marls comes up with the stickers, and they are fine. They're a little tricky to apply, so we got the start of a demo til the waitress sent Dave's bike out. It was a low moment.
We also noticed a group of about 6 guys all sitting around one table wearing fine FG product. As we are leaving one comes outside, so I had to ask... apparently it's fairly cheap. Get this $5 for the FGD ball cap. Then he says, we need to meet the FG employee he's sitting with, who just comes out for a smoke. We had a great chat. He loves our FGBC (although we didn't quite get around to the logo...). We had a nice talk about marketing and where the company's headed. More to share some time... but it's late.
We also noticed a group of about 6 guys all sitting around one table wearing fine FG product. As we are leaving one comes outside, so I had to ask... apparently it's fairly cheap. Get this $5 for the FGD ball cap. Then he says, we need to meet the FG employee he's sitting with, who just comes out for a smoke. We had a great chat. He loves our FGBC (although we didn't quite get around to the logo...). We had a nice talk about marketing and where the company's headed. More to share some time... but it's late.
fort garry bike club stickers are here!
hey all - i have the stickers in hand, and plan on bringing them to the cambridge tonite for dispersement. they cost $20, so if you want some, bring a couple of bucks. they are available in black, orange, and disco ball silver - beauty!
see you tonite.
mk
see you tonite.
mk
Sunday, July 18, 2004
a small video from Penner
Penner put a small video from our spring ride (the one he tried to email to y'all) on his webspace. Right click on the link and choose "save target as..." and save it to your hard drive. It's about 1MB in size.
Bike club video.
The only problem is that you need Windows Media Player Nine. You can get that here for older computers.
Bike club video.
The only problem is that you need Windows Media Player Nine. You can get that here for older computers.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
Thunderhill Race Report
So the Thunder has been trod. Not quite as epic as its name promises, but a bit of an ordeal nonetheless. Actually, the official race slogan--Tread the Thunder--is kind of appropriate for this race, since much of it ended up being covered by foot. Mostly, in my case, due to the short steep climbs that might be rideable if it weren't for spinning out on a root at the base. This is easily the rootiest course I've ridden in Manitoba. I'd forgotten about that part of it. My ass must have been sore last year, because it was yesterday as I bounced from root to root hardtail style, but clearly it has a weakened capacity to remember.
After Friday's wet and muddy, not to mention mosquito infested, preride, my mood for racing was a tad on the sour side. Why did we drive 6 hours to ride in a swamp for a couple of hours? With all the wet roots, this had the potential to be one dodgy race. But it didn't rain overnight as forecast, and it actually ended up being warm and sunny during the day, so by 4pm the course had dried up quite a bit. This made it possible to ride through all the squishy bogs and climb more hills than otherwise.
One of the great features about Thunderhill, aside from its dorky name, is its long climbs. There is one long, gradual climb about 1km into the course that just seems to go on forever. And then to end the 10km lap is a 1km beast of a climb that has a way of inducing some serious self-doubt. Actually, more like a 10 minute confidence-shattering crisis. Worst of all was the pain these climbs inflicted on my back. It felt like someone had attached a vice around my lower spine and was cranking it tighter and tighter with each turn of the pedal. In between the climbs is about 6km of twisty singletrack (not unlike the new section at Bur Oak but a little less tight) and a bunch of fun downhill sections. My plan for the race was to survive the middle section without losing too much time and to gain all of it back and more on the climbs. Things played out pretty much as expected: the middle section was characteristically sloppy. After a momentary lapse of concentration I nailed a tree which led to a cuss-filled tumble from my bike. There are likely also a few more pieces of bark out by Swan River with my hide clinging to it. At least I seem to be missing a few chunks of flesh from my knees and thighs. Fortunately, however, there were no serious incidents. On the climbs, I was able to reel in and then drop a bunch of riders who, as usual, I let get off the front at the start. I ended up spending most of the first lap in 2nd place, but was hoping I might be able to make up that time during the 2nd lap. That was not to be, however, as the officials called it a race after only one lap. I guess they thought we'd exceed the time limit set for us lowly Sport class riders by more than a reasonable amount. This is the second year in a row that has happened, which is kind of frustrating. But at the same time, it was nice to be spared the pain I would no doubt have had to confront on the 2nd lap.
Look for a report from Unger coming soon.
In other race news, start thinking about the stage race scheduled for Asessippi on Sept 4 & 5. Five stages in two days: a fat tire crit, an uphill time trial, a cross-country race, a downhill race, and . . . I'm not kidding . . . a round of Playstation 2 Downhill Domination (anyone have one of these we can practice on?). But most importantly for FGBC members is the special two-day license possibility. Non-licensed riders can get a temporary race license for $15. This is a perfect opportunity to try out a race without having to fork over the big bucks for the standard UCI license. You can register for as many or as few events as you like. It should be noted that there is a tradition of sorts shaping up of late summer events: namely last year's gender barrier-breaking Medora event, and the previous year's proto-FGBC riding at Riding Mountain. This looks like a great option to round of the summer riding season for this year.
Hal was spotted riding his bike on the road today. After riding to Unger's place and back, might it be possible that he's got more miles in him than some FGBC members?
After Friday's wet and muddy, not to mention mosquito infested, preride, my mood for racing was a tad on the sour side. Why did we drive 6 hours to ride in a swamp for a couple of hours? With all the wet roots, this had the potential to be one dodgy race. But it didn't rain overnight as forecast, and it actually ended up being warm and sunny during the day, so by 4pm the course had dried up quite a bit. This made it possible to ride through all the squishy bogs and climb more hills than otherwise.
One of the great features about Thunderhill, aside from its dorky name, is its long climbs. There is one long, gradual climb about 1km into the course that just seems to go on forever. And then to end the 10km lap is a 1km beast of a climb that has a way of inducing some serious self-doubt. Actually, more like a 10 minute confidence-shattering crisis. Worst of all was the pain these climbs inflicted on my back. It felt like someone had attached a vice around my lower spine and was cranking it tighter and tighter with each turn of the pedal. In between the climbs is about 6km of twisty singletrack (not unlike the new section at Bur Oak but a little less tight) and a bunch of fun downhill sections. My plan for the race was to survive the middle section without losing too much time and to gain all of it back and more on the climbs. Things played out pretty much as expected: the middle section was characteristically sloppy. After a momentary lapse of concentration I nailed a tree which led to a cuss-filled tumble from my bike. There are likely also a few more pieces of bark out by Swan River with my hide clinging to it. At least I seem to be missing a few chunks of flesh from my knees and thighs. Fortunately, however, there were no serious incidents. On the climbs, I was able to reel in and then drop a bunch of riders who, as usual, I let get off the front at the start. I ended up spending most of the first lap in 2nd place, but was hoping I might be able to make up that time during the 2nd lap. That was not to be, however, as the officials called it a race after only one lap. I guess they thought we'd exceed the time limit set for us lowly Sport class riders by more than a reasonable amount. This is the second year in a row that has happened, which is kind of frustrating. But at the same time, it was nice to be spared the pain I would no doubt have had to confront on the 2nd lap.
Look for a report from Unger coming soon.
In other race news, start thinking about the stage race scheduled for Asessippi on Sept 4 & 5. Five stages in two days: a fat tire crit, an uphill time trial, a cross-country race, a downhill race, and . . . I'm not kidding . . . a round of Playstation 2 Downhill Domination (anyone have one of these we can practice on?). But most importantly for FGBC members is the special two-day license possibility. Non-licensed riders can get a temporary race license for $15. This is a perfect opportunity to try out a race without having to fork over the big bucks for the standard UCI license. You can register for as many or as few events as you like. It should be noted that there is a tradition of sorts shaping up of late summer events: namely last year's gender barrier-breaking Medora event, and the previous year's proto-FGBC riding at Riding Mountain. This looks like a great option to round of the summer riding season for this year.
Hal was spotted riding his bike on the road today. After riding to Unger's place and back, might it be possible that he's got more miles in him than some FGBC members?
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Thunderhill, Garbage Hill, and Hal
Unger and I, along with Tim L., are off to Swan River to race this weekend at Thunderhill. Sounds scary. I'm expecting some sort of Norse saga. The hope is that the distance from Winnipeg will mean fewer racers and thus higher finishes for us. Hope those at Folk Fest at least pause to consider that it would not at all be out of order to bring bikes to BHP for a little diverson from all the music.
Unger, James, and I had a nice ride yesterday at Garbage Hill, even if Unger did come out of it minus his bike computer. Plans are shaping up for the fall/winter race series, and you can expect the Hill to be included in the schedule. So head there for training if you like.
Hal reports that he is back on the bike. Still safely within the confines of his basement, but back on two wheels nonetheless. Seems to be missing a bit of strength in his calf, but he's looking to be ready for a late summer/early fall return to the races.
Unger, James, and I had a nice ride yesterday at Garbage Hill, even if Unger did come out of it minus his bike computer. Plans are shaping up for the fall/winter race series, and you can expect the Hill to be included in the schedule. So head there for training if you like.
Hal reports that he is back on the bike. Still safely within the confines of his basement, but back on two wheels nonetheless. Seems to be missing a bit of strength in his calf, but he's looking to be ready for a late summer/early fall return to the races.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
nice ride at Birds Hill
Unger took Penner and I for a tour around the riding options at Birds Hill. It was a fine time. First, Burr Oak, where the current off-road racing happens. Some fairly tight corners like we haven't seen much of as a club... Unger went over the bars, I was stopped dead by a tree with a shoulder abrasion to show for it, and Penner drove his knuckles straight into a tree. A good time was had by all.
Then, a quick road ride over to the Chickadee area where the old course used to be, but it's obviously less well marked, so we dropped into a number of sections, but likely didn't find it all...
And back to Burr Oak to finish. When Penner was separated by a fork in the path, we determined that the possibility of a downed Penner was not worth continuing on, so we went on the search, and found him in the parking lot by the car...
Johnny came out for the post ride gathering on my deck.
Done.
Then, a quick road ride over to the Chickadee area where the old course used to be, but it's obviously less well marked, so we dropped into a number of sections, but likely didn't find it all...
And back to Burr Oak to finish. When Penner was separated by a fork in the path, we determined that the possibility of a downed Penner was not worth continuing on, so we went on the search, and found him in the parking lot by the car...
Johnny came out for the post ride gathering on my deck.
Done.
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Jonny G down
While I appreciate the race reports from the race director, I'm a little bummed to find out it's almost a week since Jonny went down on his road bike, and no word was given to the team. I paid a visit this eve to find him in a sling, out of commission for a while.
He doesn't remember what he hit, apparently, but his front tire punctured, and he went over the top, with a posterier shoulder dislocation... or something like that.
If I forgot to do it while there, I best do it electronically, "Best regards from the Klub Jonny. Heal well."
He doesn't remember what he hit, apparently, but his front tire punctured, and he went over the top, with a posterier shoulder dislocation... or something like that.
If I forgot to do it while there, I best do it electronically, "Best regards from the Klub Jonny. Heal well."
Thursday, July 01, 2004
BAFE Race Report
The Bring a Friend Event is back at Birch. I'd forgotten how superior the riding is there. I think over the last year I've been trying to convince myself that there are other places to ride in Manitoba that are equally as good, but that's just not the case. Birch can throw so many different things at you--rolling, twisty singletrack, technical switchbacks, steep climbs, and longer, more gradual uphills for the roadies--that it makes racing there so much more interesting. Sadly, I was unable to find a friend to bring along with me. With the MCC ride also going on, as well as kids' birthdays, not to mention the standard run-of-the-mill apathy, nobody was available to cash in on the free opportunity to experience the thrill mtb racing. Or maybe it's the condescending attitude. Hopefully next year will be different. We need to start working at FGBC representation. What has the director of outreach been up to lately anyway? Happily, hopalong Hal came along, which made the whole event more enjoyable than it would otherwise have been. I especially appreciated he encouragement on my first trip up the lung-busting double camel climb, as well as his seeming approval of my off-the-bike descending technique on Chizzlers.
I wasn't expecting to do very well, since I hadn't raced at Birch before, and since it is more technical than the mtb racing I've done so far this season. But I ended up finishing a surprising 3rd. The new handlebars again deserve credit for some of that. I just feel like I ride more confidently now than I did when I was worried about running into trees all the time. Funny why it should work out like that. I think this is the first time I've completed an entire mtb race where I haven't come off the bike unintentionally. Hopefully that's a trend that will continue. But I was also able to maintain a more consistent pace than many of the others, who seemed to fade badly on the second lap. I think all the road riding, and especially the time trials I've been doing, are a big help there. While I'm hardly a climber, it is usually the hills where I'll make up time on the competition--though that likely says more about the competition than me. But in any case, all the climbing at Birch worked our to my advantage. About 3/4 of the way through the first lap, I started catching more and more people, and when I started passing those who usually beat me, that was a big-time confidence boost. I still finished 5 minutes back of Kevin B, so there's still lots of room to improve. Among other things, I need to work on starting faster off the line. But at this point, I'm just happy to see some better results. I'm sure things will look different at Falcon Lake, where the riding will be more technical.
Go to the Birch Club site for full results and pictures. Hal also took some pictures, which may appear on the Tinker Creek site.
Tinker Creek had a good overall performance: finishing 2nd and 3rd in 30+ sport; 1st, 3rd, and 4th in 40+ sport; 2nd and 3rd in Senior sport; and 1st in Junior sport.
We will have to take up Mr. Hudson and organize some sort of ride so that those FGBC folks who haven't yet experienced Birch can get in on the fun. Just ask the Duke how great it is. Darryl, you might have to take the lead on that, since you see Mr. Hudson regularly--unless Luke wants to step up to the plate.
The TdF starts in just two more days. Is anyone finally going to dethrone that Armstrong guy? Six in a row somehow just seems to exist on a different metaphysical plane. Not even Unger's Habs could get there. It's going to be a wild three week ride. We'll have to get together for some early-morning yerba fuelled fun for some of the more definitive stages. Just so you don't get caught off guard, you might want to start booking time off for July 16, 17, 20-22, and 24. But the the most important of all, and easily worthy of a sick day, is the Alpe d'Huez uphill time trial on July 21: 1130 m of climbing in just 15.5 kms could well decide the Tour. It's almost as exciting as those stickers Marls keeps talking about.
I wasn't expecting to do very well, since I hadn't raced at Birch before, and since it is more technical than the mtb racing I've done so far this season. But I ended up finishing a surprising 3rd. The new handlebars again deserve credit for some of that. I just feel like I ride more confidently now than I did when I was worried about running into trees all the time. Funny why it should work out like that. I think this is the first time I've completed an entire mtb race where I haven't come off the bike unintentionally. Hopefully that's a trend that will continue. But I was also able to maintain a more consistent pace than many of the others, who seemed to fade badly on the second lap. I think all the road riding, and especially the time trials I've been doing, are a big help there. While I'm hardly a climber, it is usually the hills where I'll make up time on the competition--though that likely says more about the competition than me. But in any case, all the climbing at Birch worked our to my advantage. About 3/4 of the way through the first lap, I started catching more and more people, and when I started passing those who usually beat me, that was a big-time confidence boost. I still finished 5 minutes back of Kevin B, so there's still lots of room to improve. Among other things, I need to work on starting faster off the line. But at this point, I'm just happy to see some better results. I'm sure things will look different at Falcon Lake, where the riding will be more technical.
Go to the Birch Club site for full results and pictures. Hal also took some pictures, which may appear on the Tinker Creek site.
Tinker Creek had a good overall performance: finishing 2nd and 3rd in 30+ sport; 1st, 3rd, and 4th in 40+ sport; 2nd and 3rd in Senior sport; and 1st in Junior sport.
We will have to take up Mr. Hudson and organize some sort of ride so that those FGBC folks who haven't yet experienced Birch can get in on the fun. Just ask the Duke how great it is. Darryl, you might have to take the lead on that, since you see Mr. Hudson regularly--unless Luke wants to step up to the plate.
The TdF starts in just two more days. Is anyone finally going to dethrone that Armstrong guy? Six in a row somehow just seems to exist on a different metaphysical plane. Not even Unger's Habs could get there. It's going to be a wild three week ride. We'll have to get together for some early-morning yerba fuelled fun for some of the more definitive stages. Just so you don't get caught off guard, you might want to start booking time off for July 16, 17, 20-22, and 24. But the the most important of all, and easily worthy of a sick day, is the Alpe d'Huez uphill time trial on July 21: 1130 m of climbing in just 15.5 kms could well decide the Tour. It's almost as exciting as those stickers Marls keeps talking about.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
TdF Pool
Johnny G (aka gimpy Johnny) suggested this evening that we should do a pool of sorts for the Tour de France. The excitement starts Saturday morning, with live coverage daily on OLN. If there has to be money involved, that's fine with me. If not, that's fine too. We can steal the scoring system from cyclingnews.com or modify it to suit our purposes. Let me know if you're interested.
ADW 624
Road rage alert: watch out for a red Ford pickup with license plate ADW 624. It has a University of British Columbia sticker on the rear window. Asshole tried to run me off the road this afternoon--apparently as retribution for my failure to heed the Stop sign at Arlington and Wolseley. Okay, okay . . . I plead guilty. But still, to wait at the next stop sign until I get there before cutting me off is more than a little out of order. Beware the four-wheeled enemy.
"The sound of a car door opening in front of you is similar to the sound of a gun being cocked." --Amy Webster
"The sound of a car door opening in front of you is similar to the sound of a gun being cocked." --Amy Webster
Next ride: Birds Hill July 6
So, the president and Unger have called a ride for Tuesday July 6. The only detail that is known is that we will meet at the president's at 6:30pm, which should have us on the trails shortly after 7:00.
It has also been confirmed that one Jeffrey Dale RL (Saskatchewan rep) will be joining us for the ride. We may need to come up with a ride for him if brother Greg's doesn't pan out.
This is not the family event that has been spoken of.
It has also been confirmed that one Jeffrey Dale RL (Saskatchewan rep) will be joining us for the ride. We may need to come up with a ride for him if brother Greg's doesn't pan out.
This is not the family event that has been spoken of.
Sunday, June 27, 2004
www.fortgarrybikeclub.com
well, the transition is beginning... I got a new flash intro made, so I'm starting to move stuff from the old geocities site to the new one. If I haven't moved it, I have put a link to the old stuff... so you can start using the new URL for everything if you want:
www.fortgarrybikeclub.com
I will serve notice when there is no more content at the old site.
i heard a rumour that Marls is moving forward on stickers with our URL... any news Dr K?
www.fortgarrybikeclub.com
I will serve notice when there is no more content at the old site.
i heard a rumour that Marls is moving forward on stickers with our URL... any news Dr K?
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Lose 4 inches . . .
With all those emails that clutter up my inbox encouraging me to buy a little pill that promises satisfaction due to added inches, it's easy to understand how my perspective got a little skewed. Not that I've ever purachased one, but the whole idea sticks in your head after a while. Gotta give those guys some credit. But after too many mtb races where I lost valuable time due to running into trees and other obstacles, it was impossible to ignore the fact that bigger is not necessarily better. So I switched the riser bars from the Kona with the Norc's much narrower flat bar. After a ride last night at Whittier and today's race at BHP, I'm happy to report that the results are good: no trees hit and the bike just handles that much better. Of course, I still lost to the same guys I usually lose to, but I'm hoping the gap was a bit smaller, since I finished four minutes faster than the last BHP race. So if you want a more satisfying experience go flatter and four inches shorter.
"It never gets easier, you just go faster" -- Greg Lemond.
"It never gets easier, you just go faster" -- Greg Lemond.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Beauty crash, man.
I've figured out a way of getting pictures onto the blog fairly easily... it bodes well for the future sharing of pics.
Beauty crash on Garbage Hill, back when Hal could walk (and ride).
Beauty crash on Garbage Hill, back when Hal could walk (and ride).
Monday, June 21, 2004
Tragedy and Cycling
A book I am reading on the idea of the tragic contains the following attempt to delineate genuine from merely apparent tragedy by some yay-hoo named Geoffrey Brereton:
"The death of a great man in an air-crash qualifies for tragedy unequivocally; if he is killed in a sports car, the tragic quality becomes more dubious; if by falling off a bicycle, the whole conception is endangered."
Obviously this guy has never heard of Tom Simpson, whose haunting last words, "put me back on my bike," capture the dedication, spirit, and general love of riding that defines the FGBC. Nor has he heard of Marco Pantani or Graeme Obree, whose depression-induced falls from the bike were perhaps more metaphorical than literal, but hardly any less tragic for all that.
Somehow Mr. Brereton seems to have the notion that the idea of the tragic has some sort of direct correlation to the dollar value of the vehicle one dies in. Then again, if he's right I suppose most of us can look forward to relatively struggle-free lives, excpet maybe for Barg and his fancy bus.
"The death of a great man in an air-crash qualifies for tragedy unequivocally; if he is killed in a sports car, the tragic quality becomes more dubious; if by falling off a bicycle, the whole conception is endangered."
Obviously this guy has never heard of Tom Simpson, whose haunting last words, "put me back on my bike," capture the dedication, spirit, and general love of riding that defines the FGBC. Nor has he heard of Marco Pantani or Graeme Obree, whose depression-induced falls from the bike were perhaps more metaphorical than literal, but hardly any less tragic for all that.
Somehow Mr. Brereton seems to have the notion that the idea of the tragic has some sort of direct correlation to the dollar value of the vehicle one dies in. Then again, if he's right I suppose most of us can look forward to relatively struggle-free lives, excpet maybe for Barg and his fancy bus.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
posting contrasts
I'm starting to really enjoy the tasty contrast between chris' race reports, and my "don't forget to bring the condiments" type posts... maybe it's just me enjoying that...
waiting for a few written reports about the weekend. send an anecdote, or overall thoughts. jointly, we should be able to approach Chris' total # of words... Aiden (his royal "A"ness) with two Masters' should be able to give us a boost in the race with the Doctor... or perhaps the Duke, who took time to ponder the goings-on, rather than mess his head up with questions of who was going to go over the bars next...
waiting for a few written reports about the weekend. send an anecdote, or overall thoughts. jointly, we should be able to approach Chris' total # of words... Aiden (his royal "A"ness) with two Masters' should be able to give us a boost in the race with the Doctor... or perhaps the Duke, who took time to ponder the goings-on, rather than mess his head up with questions of who was going to go over the bars next...
Monday, June 14, 2004
Alter Ego/FOG Stage Race Report
A brief report and a few observations from the race this weekend. Happily my legs felt better by Saturday morning. Fewer tactical errors in the crit. Finished 2nd., after an exciting 30 minutes of riding laps around the leg, and another fast sprint finish. Need to remember to start those a bit earlier. I think all the wedding parties out for their pictures were a bit taken aback by all the commotion, but it was a great location for a race. Tight corners to string out the pack, and even a slight uphill finish to make the final sprint more painful. The time trial was held on River Rd., which would normally also be a perfect location. But at race time the winds were gusting up to 55 kmh. We were heading with wind on the way out and straight into it on the way back. Exactly the wrong way around. But apparently, I'm good at time trials. I ended up winning again, this time by 1:24, which left me with a lead of 1:20 heading into Sunday's road race in Minnedosa. Why do they start these things so early, and why do they insist we be there a full hour before start time to sign in. I hate getting up at 5 am. But the road race course at Minnedosa was worth it. The highlight was a long (for Manitoba) 2 km climb, just in case we hadn't suffered enough in the wind on Saturday, and an equally long downhill to bring us back into town at 70 kmh. With a good lead going in, I didn't have to push it. Just make sure nobody else gets away. I did try to go for the $40 prize for King of the Mountains the third time up the hill, but after realizing my heart was about to explode I decided to conserve my energy for the last 20 km. Ended up losing a two-man uphill sprint at the finish, settling once again for 2nd place. But it was good enough to preserve first overall. Pizza, pasta salad and $85 in prize money were a nice way to wrap it up. Should be good to cover a few more races, or maybe just to help keep our namesake company in business for a little while longer.
After a few of these races, I've come to the conclusion that roadies can be a rather anal, uptight, and edgy bunch. Just the kind of crowd where an FGBC member should feel right at home. I've never seen so many people with gadgets designed to check this and that. Gotta have that edge on the competition, especially against all those other talented Sport riders. Must get a little machine to measure the lactic acid buildup in your legs so you know whether you are done cooling down. Can't do a time trial without aero-bars. Actually I must admit to being a bit curious about those, since everyone tells me it would take another minute or so off the time trial. I've also never seen so many bikes getting thrown around. Apparently, when you flat in a race or get dropped from the group you're supposed to throw your bike down, stomp around and generally draw attention to yourself. I hadn't noticed any such display at any of the mtb races I've done, but maybe that's because I'm usually wheezing with my head down somewhere back in the trees.
Miriam was out with her cowbells again and had a blast. Forget the stickers Mark, we need a run of FGBC cowbells, if only as an emergency signal for those night ride crashes in the woods. At the pancake breakfast on Sunday, I overheard one guy complaining that his poor result was on account of not realizing we were on the last lap. Some kid, he said, was ringing cowbells the whole time and so he hadn't picked out the bell which signals one lap to go. I didn't have the courage to mention that the kid was my daughter, nor to point out that the 14 other riders were somehow able to realize just fine that it was the last lap and time to kick it up a notch. Nice excuse, pal. You've got nothing on FGBC. We don't need no excuses. Sure the dark's a bit skunky at times, but you can't apologize for that. We are exactly what we are. And sometimes we even ride our bikes.
After a few of these races, I've come to the conclusion that roadies can be a rather anal, uptight, and edgy bunch. Just the kind of crowd where an FGBC member should feel right at home. I've never seen so many people with gadgets designed to check this and that. Gotta have that edge on the competition, especially against all those other talented Sport riders. Must get a little machine to measure the lactic acid buildup in your legs so you know whether you are done cooling down. Can't do a time trial without aero-bars. Actually I must admit to being a bit curious about those, since everyone tells me it would take another minute or so off the time trial. I've also never seen so many bikes getting thrown around. Apparently, when you flat in a race or get dropped from the group you're supposed to throw your bike down, stomp around and generally draw attention to yourself. I hadn't noticed any such display at any of the mtb races I've done, but maybe that's because I'm usually wheezing with my head down somewhere back in the trees.
Miriam was out with her cowbells again and had a blast. Forget the stickers Mark, we need a run of FGBC cowbells, if only as an emergency signal for those night ride crashes in the woods. At the pancake breakfast on Sunday, I overheard one guy complaining that his poor result was on account of not realizing we were on the last lap. Some kid, he said, was ringing cowbells the whole time and so he hadn't picked out the bell which signals one lap to go. I didn't have the courage to mention that the kid was my daughter, nor to point out that the 14 other riders were somehow able to realize just fine that it was the last lap and time to kick it up a notch. Nice excuse, pal. You've got nothing on FGBC. We don't need no excuses. Sure the dark's a bit skunky at times, but you can't apologize for that. We are exactly what we are. And sometimes we even ride our bikes.
second annual FGBC out-trip
super deluxe!
a media page entry will be forthcoming. if anyone at the event would like to write a bit of something describing how sweet the event was, you can email it to me and I'll set it up as a blog entry and/or put some of it on the media page.
a media page entry will be forthcoming. if anyone at the event would like to write a bit of something describing how sweet the event was, you can email it to me and I'll set it up as a blog entry and/or put some of it on the media page.
Friday, June 11, 2004
Feel the Burn
My legs are burning up. Not a satisfying feeling heading into the ominous sounding Leg Burner race this weekend. I guess pulling Miriam around by singlespeed Tuesday evening resulted in more lactic acid buildup than I had anticipated. But hopefully an easy, fast spinning ride this afternoon will flush all that toxic stuff out of there. The criterium tomorrow is at the Leg, starting at 9:30, for anyone who's not at Caddy. For those who are heading out, hope thie riding's good.
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the human race." --H.G. Wells.
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the human race." --H.G. Wells.
Monday, June 07, 2004
final pre-event meeting
Yes, we are on our way... all the things this bike club stands for come together in one grand event. The time/space continuum is temporarily irrelevent. (Gravity remains, however. It should perhaps be moved to the agenda for next year's event that gravity be suspended as well... Yes, I realize it's a dangerous path, deciding to alter basic understood notions about the universe... but what are we as a Klub if we don't dream big? Friction? Free beer from the other FGBC? Jonny?)
So, transportation was somewhat arranged... dogs on Saturday eve will be supplied and figured into the per person cost of the event along with camping... let me put some of these things into a bit of a list...
Once there is a bit of clarity on the lunch scenario, perhaps I'll send a group email reiterating some of these details.
Start the countdown.
So, transportation was somewhat arranged... dogs on Saturday eve will be supplied and figured into the per person cost of the event along with camping... let me put some of these things into a bit of a list...
- the event is this weekend. We're camping at Caddy Lake. (I thought it might be good to start with the basics.)
- we have three sites, and are allowed two tents on each site. so bring some of those.
- Saturday supper is the traditional dogfest. Penner and I will supply dogs, buns and condiments (mustard, ketchup, relish, rooster sauce)
- it would be very good if people would bring dog sticks if they have them
- everything else to be brought, you need to bring on your own or with a group.
- one item we did not discuss, which might be worth mentioning or discussing in the comments is the nature of lunch. Should we plan for lunches away from the campsite as per last year?
- other useful items, this is now just as reminder
- tarps and rope
- chairs
- beverage
- lots of water... if the water's as bad as West Hawk was
- firewood if you have, it's often pricey close to campgrounds
- Jonny G and Unger stepped up as interim tech directors, and will bring any and all tools they have. bring your own tube if you can...
Once there is a bit of clarity on the lunch scenario, perhaps I'll send a group email reiterating some of these details.
Start the countdown.
Tour of Canaan and Grand Beach Race Reports
Yes, the tour of Canaan. Okay, not a race I actually participated in, nor even a race that involved official FGBC representation. But my good friend Alex Hawkins from North Carolina did this epic mtb stage race this weekend. And there is even a FGBC connection, in virtue of his being singned up to do the 24 hours of Adrenalin race at Canmore last year with our sister club, Tinker Creek Cycle. But that was before he tore up his ACL. In any case, read on below, as you get a taste of what a bike club might involve if it were actually about biking.
In terms of more direct FGBC involvement, Unger and I raced at Grand Beach on Sunday, taking 7th and 5th respectively in the solid Master Sport 30+ class. As for myself, a distinct pattern is beginning to emerge: lose ground in the rocks and roots, pick it back up on the climbs and flat sections. Unfortunately, the few technical sections coupled with a bad start still left me a few minutes back of the leaders. And it doesn't look good from here on in, as this was easily the least technical of any of the mtb races we'll be doing this year.
The tour of canaan was crazy. you have to check out the format for the race at granny gear productions. so much to tell, where to start. i did win my division, and for this race that was 35-44 rather than 40-49. unfortunatly, there were not that many entrants, so winning hte overall was not much of an accomplishment (although living to tell about it was). But Sunday's 4-stage race was part of a larger WV points series, and thus a bigger turnout, and i won that as well. Despite the victory, I did not feel confident about anything all weekend, but rather felt so in over my head the entire time. i both loved it and hated it at various points in the weekend. the terrain and the riders there were so hard core it was unbelievable. i am so beat up right now (huge bruise on left foot instep, chainring gash on right shin, random scrapes from thorn bushes all over legs, deep bruise on lower left thigh, bruised right hip, bruised left ribs that make coughing and various other everyday activities painful) and exhausted. Chris, i have to say that the terrain (tons of loose rocks - especially on the downhills -, way too much mud, and slick roots) makes me want a more thorough investigation of the trans rockies route before considering such a venture. i spent so much time off of my bike - either falling off on hte downhills, pushing it up the inridable (b/c either too steep, too muddy, too rocky or too rooty) climbs, or carrying it over the unridable obstacles on the flats - i do not think i would want to do a weeklong ride of that nature. i like to be on my bike when i ride my bike. having said that, i was able to ride so much more downhill by the end of the second day and on the third day just from having been forced to learn how over the course of the weekend. In that respect it was like an intensive mtn bike camp. i am definatly a better rider now than last week. still, some mud and rock sections are just unridable, and WV seems to have more than its share of such, and i don't enjoy those. The first day was a splash of cold water in the face. there i was with my norba racerboy setup and, boom, they throw is into the muddiest, rootiest, gnarliest terrain. my tires were slipping, spinning and sinking. i fell into a mud bog that went up to my hip, and got smoked by the local singlespeeder (hardtail) on the downhill. (that was a pattern that would repeat itself throughout the weekend) after a 45 min rest its off for more. as it turned out, i held my own on the climbs, and the second race climbed for the first 6 miles. one fun part about the weekend was getting to know and mixing it up with the expert riders - though i usually lost touch with them on the descents. as we turned downhill in what was essentially a dry rocky river bed i could not believe this was a) considered a mtn bike trail and b) considered appropriate for a race! At teh end I heard one of the women say she loved that stretch. there are some crazy people riding mtn bikes in WV. I did not fall on that b/c i did not attempt to ride it, and only looked on in disbelief as another rider bounced past me. later, after some more climbing straight up a ski slope, on a downhill section that actually resembled a trail i endoed, driving my head into the ground and spinning onto my back. for a brief second i was thinking that that fall was not as bad as it could have been when i was suddenly jerked away from that thought by the impact of the bike on my chest (hence the rib injury). i forgot to mention - it is cold and wet and i am underdressed for the duration of this day. well, the rest of the way down was hell, as i was so psyched out and in pain. at the ski lodge where we finish for lunch i am stunned to hear everyone going on about what a great ride that was. also i'm shivering. the third ride of the day is mercifully rock free, except for a 1/2 mile downhill after just one mile whhen the singlespeeder buzzes past me, causing me to dismount in an uncontrolled, but upright manner, stepping awkwardly on a rock (hence the instep bruise). one day, 3 1/2 hours of racing, time for a hot bath and a nice group dinner at which i got to know a couple of the other riders.Doing several stages in one day is interesting - it gives you just enough rest to go out full speed again in the next stage, thus maximizing your suffering.
ok, i better be briefer on the next days. suffice it to say i had to do some reevaluating before the next days. my rim brakes were killing me on the wet and muddy downhills - so i rode my tracer for saturday's downill stages. I also had some pretty beefy tires and low seat setting - and i have to say it was almost fun. a 1.4 mile downhill that took me 15 min. on my new bike in an earlier stage took only 9 min on hte tracer. admittedly, i was becoming more proficient as well. we also did a giant slalom that was a blast.
for sunday's epic, 5 stage, 44 mile tour all over the area (various trails and railroad beds from one town to the next) i was back on hte spider but with bigger tires and a shorter stem - which proved to be a good setup. one early stage was a 10 mile uphill up a steep railway grade (although steep for a train is still not that steep - but no letting up the whole way) it was like a mass time trial - i think charlie would have been fascinated by it. because the terrain was so predictable you could just pick a gear and go, pushing yourself as much or not as you like. i tried to hand with some of hte experts, and did so for 18 min. at 18 min i discovered that i can only maintain 182 bpm (about 93-4%) for that long. i simply could not continue at that pace past that point. but remarkably, 178 was fine. and sitting in at 178 i was not losing more than 40 yards to these other guys, but no way could i have closed the gap. then at 30 min i began having difficulty maintaining 178 and found that i needed to drop to 175-6, except for occasional bursts (like the need to stand up for a while to prevent any long term damage to the nerves to my penis - that was an ongoing internal debate in my head - stand up to get some feeling back or just hold out till the end of the ride?) i finished in 47 min. about 2 min back from the guys i initialy set out with, 4 min back from a lead group - and then there was this guy, maybe 22yrs, a pro with trek from colorado who is gearing up for snowshoe next week - he finished in 37 min. During the last 20 min of the last stage on sun (which was the end of 3 days for me) i was simply in survival mode. i was burning through those gu packs in less than an hour and was simply trying to return in one piece. it was brutal. it was all i could do to keep from cramping, falling, sitting. it felt good to be done. would i do it again? no way by myself. if someone else wanted to go, maybe.
my eyes have been opened to a different segment of hte mtn bike community that i was not really so aware of. these guys scoff at teh norba weenies who ride such smooth and easy courses - road biking on dirt. and yet, they are not just outlaw freeriders. these guys are racers, but of a different breed. it made me think of the eco challenge. i'm not sure if that's for me though.
in the tub at the end of the first day i was thinking of turning to road biking - maybe too old for this mtn stuff, etc. not road racing (also brutal with its crashes) but centuries, etc. but at the end i am still on the mtn bike.
Lastly, I hearby officially pronounce my knee fully healed.
Alex
In terms of more direct FGBC involvement, Unger and I raced at Grand Beach on Sunday, taking 7th and 5th respectively in the solid Master Sport 30+ class. As for myself, a distinct pattern is beginning to emerge: lose ground in the rocks and roots, pick it back up on the climbs and flat sections. Unfortunately, the few technical sections coupled with a bad start still left me a few minutes back of the leaders. And it doesn't look good from here on in, as this was easily the least technical of any of the mtb races we'll be doing this year.
The tour of canaan was crazy. you have to check out the format for the race at granny gear productions. so much to tell, where to start. i did win my division, and for this race that was 35-44 rather than 40-49. unfortunatly, there were not that many entrants, so winning hte overall was not much of an accomplishment (although living to tell about it was). But Sunday's 4-stage race was part of a larger WV points series, and thus a bigger turnout, and i won that as well. Despite the victory, I did not feel confident about anything all weekend, but rather felt so in over my head the entire time. i both loved it and hated it at various points in the weekend. the terrain and the riders there were so hard core it was unbelievable. i am so beat up right now (huge bruise on left foot instep, chainring gash on right shin, random scrapes from thorn bushes all over legs, deep bruise on lower left thigh, bruised right hip, bruised left ribs that make coughing and various other everyday activities painful) and exhausted. Chris, i have to say that the terrain (tons of loose rocks - especially on the downhills -, way too much mud, and slick roots) makes me want a more thorough investigation of the trans rockies route before considering such a venture. i spent so much time off of my bike - either falling off on hte downhills, pushing it up the inridable (b/c either too steep, too muddy, too rocky or too rooty) climbs, or carrying it over the unridable obstacles on the flats - i do not think i would want to do a weeklong ride of that nature. i like to be on my bike when i ride my bike. having said that, i was able to ride so much more downhill by the end of the second day and on the third day just from having been forced to learn how over the course of the weekend. In that respect it was like an intensive mtn bike camp. i am definatly a better rider now than last week. still, some mud and rock sections are just unridable, and WV seems to have more than its share of such, and i don't enjoy those. The first day was a splash of cold water in the face. there i was with my norba racerboy setup and, boom, they throw is into the muddiest, rootiest, gnarliest terrain. my tires were slipping, spinning and sinking. i fell into a mud bog that went up to my hip, and got smoked by the local singlespeeder (hardtail) on the downhill. (that was a pattern that would repeat itself throughout the weekend) after a 45 min rest its off for more. as it turned out, i held my own on the climbs, and the second race climbed for the first 6 miles. one fun part about the weekend was getting to know and mixing it up with the expert riders - though i usually lost touch with them on the descents. as we turned downhill in what was essentially a dry rocky river bed i could not believe this was a) considered a mtn bike trail and b) considered appropriate for a race! At teh end I heard one of the women say she loved that stretch. there are some crazy people riding mtn bikes in WV. I did not fall on that b/c i did not attempt to ride it, and only looked on in disbelief as another rider bounced past me. later, after some more climbing straight up a ski slope, on a downhill section that actually resembled a trail i endoed, driving my head into the ground and spinning onto my back. for a brief second i was thinking that that fall was not as bad as it could have been when i was suddenly jerked away from that thought by the impact of the bike on my chest (hence the rib injury). i forgot to mention - it is cold and wet and i am underdressed for the duration of this day. well, the rest of the way down was hell, as i was so psyched out and in pain. at the ski lodge where we finish for lunch i am stunned to hear everyone going on about what a great ride that was. also i'm shivering. the third ride of the day is mercifully rock free, except for a 1/2 mile downhill after just one mile whhen the singlespeeder buzzes past me, causing me to dismount in an uncontrolled, but upright manner, stepping awkwardly on a rock (hence the instep bruise). one day, 3 1/2 hours of racing, time for a hot bath and a nice group dinner at which i got to know a couple of the other riders.Doing several stages in one day is interesting - it gives you just enough rest to go out full speed again in the next stage, thus maximizing your suffering.
ok, i better be briefer on the next days. suffice it to say i had to do some reevaluating before the next days. my rim brakes were killing me on the wet and muddy downhills - so i rode my tracer for saturday's downill stages. I also had some pretty beefy tires and low seat setting - and i have to say it was almost fun. a 1.4 mile downhill that took me 15 min. on my new bike in an earlier stage took only 9 min on hte tracer. admittedly, i was becoming more proficient as well. we also did a giant slalom that was a blast.
for sunday's epic, 5 stage, 44 mile tour all over the area (various trails and railroad beds from one town to the next) i was back on hte spider but with bigger tires and a shorter stem - which proved to be a good setup. one early stage was a 10 mile uphill up a steep railway grade (although steep for a train is still not that steep - but no letting up the whole way) it was like a mass time trial - i think charlie would have been fascinated by it. because the terrain was so predictable you could just pick a gear and go, pushing yourself as much or not as you like. i tried to hand with some of hte experts, and did so for 18 min. at 18 min i discovered that i can only maintain 182 bpm (about 93-4%) for that long. i simply could not continue at that pace past that point. but remarkably, 178 was fine. and sitting in at 178 i was not losing more than 40 yards to these other guys, but no way could i have closed the gap. then at 30 min i began having difficulty maintaining 178 and found that i needed to drop to 175-6, except for occasional bursts (like the need to stand up for a while to prevent any long term damage to the nerves to my penis - that was an ongoing internal debate in my head - stand up to get some feeling back or just hold out till the end of the ride?) i finished in 47 min. about 2 min back from the guys i initialy set out with, 4 min back from a lead group - and then there was this guy, maybe 22yrs, a pro with trek from colorado who is gearing up for snowshoe next week - he finished in 37 min. During the last 20 min of the last stage on sun (which was the end of 3 days for me) i was simply in survival mode. i was burning through those gu packs in less than an hour and was simply trying to return in one piece. it was brutal. it was all i could do to keep from cramping, falling, sitting. it felt good to be done. would i do it again? no way by myself. if someone else wanted to go, maybe.
my eyes have been opened to a different segment of hte mtn bike community that i was not really so aware of. these guys scoff at teh norba weenies who ride such smooth and easy courses - road biking on dirt. and yet, they are not just outlaw freeriders. these guys are racers, but of a different breed. it made me think of the eco challenge. i'm not sure if that's for me though.
in the tub at the end of the first day i was thinking of turning to road biking - maybe too old for this mtn stuff, etc. not road racing (also brutal with its crashes) but centuries, etc. but at the end i am still on the mtn bike.
Lastly, I hearby officially pronounce my knee fully healed.
Alex
Monday, May 31, 2004
Falcon Gold Race Report
With the foul toxicity of all the smoke and bad excuses about not biking from Friday night's dogfest still fogging my normally coherent sensibilities, I headed out to Falcon Lake early Saturday morning for the inaugural Falcon Gold Race. It wasn't easy to leave in the midst of the great location debate, but it had to be done. The race consisted of three stages: a 14.5 km time trial, a 25 min. plus 3 lap criterium, and a 53 km road race. Things got kicked off with the time trial on South Drive--an out and back to the Falcon Trails Resort, on a windy and slightly undulating course. I felt alright, not great, but ended up winning the time trial by half a minute. But the euphoria of my first ever race win was short lived, as I lost all that and more in the afternoon criterium. The 30 minutes of racing around the small park in the town square were both faster and scarier than I had expected, but a good learning experience nonetheless. After a brief stint at the head of the pack, I got caught off guard at the halfway point and gave up the 15 second intermediate sprint bonus to the guy who finished 2nd in the time trial. It would have helped if I knew who he was, but I hadn't seen him at a race before and didn't really have the best sense of who the competition was. Not a great move on the tactical side of things. With about 10 minutes left, he and another guy got off the front again, and somehow I ended up a further 20 meters or so behind the chase group. Not really sure how that happened, but now I was stuck on my own having to chase back to the group. Another tactical fuckup in a quickly growing list. I did manage to bridge up after another 5 laps or so, but had to work so hard in the process that there was no hope of catching the two leaders. The revised plan was now to stay ahead of the 3rd place guy and to try and take the 30 second time bonus for 3rd place. This was briefly interrupted by a crash that I nearly got tangled up in. Two riders touched wheels and one of them went down right in front of me. Luckily I wasn't boxed in and was able to swerve around and avoid it, but a few of the others ended up with some nasty road rash and found themselves out of the race. But Mr. 3rd place was ahead of the crash and now had a small gap on me with only a few laps to go. Together with one of the Kids of Mud riders I pushed hard to bridge back up to him and we managed to do that with only one lap to go. Now we had the momentum, left Mr 3rd place in our wake, and fought a hotly contested sprint for third place. KoM guy went out first but I was closing in as we got to the line. Neither of us were sure who took it, but the officials decided it was him not me. We were 15 seconds behind the winner, the former 2nd place guy, and I lost another minute to him in time bonuses. The 30 second bonus for third would have limited the damage to a 30 second deficit, but as it was I ended up being bumped down to 2nd place by a full minute. Not sure how things would have turned out on Sunday for the road race, since I wasn't able to be there. So instead I'll try to repeat my time trial success and try not to repeat my mistakes in the criterium and hope things go better at the next stage race I'll be doing instead of the annual Bike Club weekend event. All in all it was a great day. The weather was perfect and I learned some valuable lessons. Too bad the FGBC-Tinker Creek contingent was so small, but there's always hope--Juan Eppstein and Jonny G both have fully functioning road bikes and would make solid additions to the sport classification. And now that Hal and Dave have acquired some new road wheels, things are looking up. If nothing else, anyone is welcome to come out and ring cow bells along with Miriam and the rest of my personal tifosi on the side of the road.
Until next time . . . ride yer bike!
Until next time . . . ride yer bike!
Saturday, May 29, 2004
Latest camping news + Friday evening's dog fest...
Well, a fine evening for a dogfest... and a fine turnout. Juan (hosting), Unger, Bergen, Marls, Jonny G, Chris, Hal, Secretary... Country Meat and Sausages dogs were consumed by some. They are, afterall, the official dog of the club. We'll need to look into sponsorship. The good news is that they are currently available at Harry's Foods. Go support your small town (Blumenort) dog producer. (Perhaps we're not quite in a position to change our name just yet.)
There was a good deal of bike related discussion... what with there being a couple of racers in the club these days. (Hal, you're clearly part of the club, but you're not currently one of the racers. I hope that's OK.)
Attendance at our spring ride did get a bit more airtime... since the technical/race director has decided to race instead of join us, and then there's the whole matter of the Duke...
Unger's arrival, was the key to get down to serious business. Since the whole Morden area thing has hit the skids, location was the critical agenda. After numerous twists and turns in direction, we settled on West Hawk because of the potential diversity in riding options and if that area didn't work, to Spruce Woods with the FGBC.
This just in... an email from Juan Eppstein who was good enough to check into camping options on behalf of the Klub:
Thanks Juan. So, we're in busines!! Go ride your bikes!
There was a good deal of bike related discussion... what with there being a couple of racers in the club these days. (Hal, you're clearly part of the club, but you're not currently one of the racers. I hope that's OK.)
Attendance at our spring ride did get a bit more airtime... since the technical/race director has decided to race instead of join us, and then there's the whole matter of the Duke...
Unger's arrival, was the key to get down to serious business. Since the whole Morden area thing has hit the skids, location was the critical agenda. After numerous twists and turns in direction, we settled on West Hawk because of the potential diversity in riding options and if that area didn't work, to Spruce Woods with the FGBC.
This just in... an email from Juan Eppstein who was good enough to check into camping options on behalf of the Klub:
I have some news re: the camping arrangements. Group reservations are for groups of 31 or more, so we are limited to reserving a cluster of individual sites. Unfortunately, our favorite spot (sites F-1,2,3) at West Hawk were full. The only cluster there was E-6,7,8, but these seem to be a bit close to the neighbors still. My executive decision was to book at Caddy Lake, where I reserved sites 32,33 & 34 (see Caddy map under the minutes archive), which are at the end of a bay with no sites directly opposite.
Further info: - $27.75 per site for a total of $83.25. Bring cash or cheque to the event to square up the costs. - Sites are reserved under Darryl, Brian, and my name. - 4 people per site, 2 tents/site. - Reservation numbers are 209506, 209507, 209508. - Check-in 4:00 pm, check-out 3:00 pm (Sunday). - Cancellations/changes can be made until 4 days in advance of the booking.
Thanks Juan. So, we're in busines!! Go ride your bikes!
Friday, May 28, 2004
Tinker Creek Website
Looks like our bretheren in Tinker Creek have been doing more than just riding lately. Well actually, since Hal bust up his leg a while back he's actually had some time to work on the Tinker Creek Cycle website. Check it out.
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Dogfest moved to Friday
sounds like the weather and attendance issues has moved the dogfest to Juan Eppstein's on Friday. Please let him know if you are able to attend.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Birch Reopened
It's now official. The best place for mountain biking in the province is set to open once again on June 2. See the official statement from the Manitoba Cycling Association. I realize the $50 fee will seem a bit too steep for some, but hopefully at least a handful of FGBC members will pony up so we can do some group rides.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Minutes May 17, 2004; dog fest news; and more
Well, as you've learned, the meetings have migrated to the Cambridge on Monday evenings for now. Since it's an ultimate gathering as well, it's not all bike business, and in the interest of not segregating the whole thing, only the most serious agenda really gets proper discussion, but there is news to report...
- first, the bad news. Hal had an ultimate injury, and last we heard, his ankle was broken. There seemed to be some uncertainty, so we'll update you on that asap.
- second, the other bad news. It seems camping right in the Morden area is out. The Stanley Park option will under no circumstances tolerate us consuming any of our namesake beverage... and the general consensus on the campground is that it is not an option. The bit of good news is that Marls has done some quick research, and found us a bit of info on the Stephenfield campground which is less than half an hour from our desired riding area. Here's a link to the pdf. Seems promising. Shall we commission him to proceed with a booking? (This last bit of news is the "more" that the title refers to.)
- dogfest. since there is no ultimate game next week, we will move our gathering to Tuesday, and enjoy a dogfest at Juan Eppstein's. Let's gather at 9:30 unless you hear otherwise. The president and I, the secretary, have been on dog duty before, and will have a go at it again. So please RSVP to the bike clube email address: bike_club2003@yahoo.ca
- certainly nice to gather with some of the Altona contingent. More discussion of a southern cluster... the latest possible name is "The Old Dutch Bike Club". Very complementary.
The Norc Redux
The tastefully rusted, blue Norco--my trusty single-speed steed--is back on the road. Winter and spring were unkind to it. But the wonky bottom bracket, which necessitated a month-long mothballing, has been replaced with a brand-new cartridge and now she's (a female steed?) pedalling smoother than ever. Plus, as a reward for her loyalty, I've outfitted her with a new chainring. Now running a 46x16 drivetrain, I can barely keep up with her. Sure would like to spoil her with some shiny FGBC stickers.
May 17-21 is Bike to Work Week. For those of you who don't already, get with the program.
Trev, your quest for a new bike presents you with an ideal and long overdue opportunity to return to Winnipeg. Natural Cycles' Prairybike has Bechtel written all over it. It would suit you well for the annual spring ride.
Chris.
May 17-21 is Bike to Work Week. For those of you who don't already, get with the program.
Trev, your quest for a new bike presents you with an ideal and long overdue opportunity to return to Winnipeg. Natural Cycles' Prairybike has Bechtel written all over it. It would suit you well for the annual spring ride.
Chris.
Sunday, May 16, 2004
quick update, take 2
well, I just posted a good update and then my MS Explorer crashed and lost it all...
so, quickly, meetings seem to have moved to Mondays at the cambridge because that's where most of the ultimate crowd goes that intersects with bike club. tough to get down to business with such a large and diverse crowd.
Unger is still working on site issues for our June gathering.
We haven't had a chance to talk about Trev's bike recommendation request in the comments of the previous entry...
hopefully there will be something new to report in the next couple of days...
so, quickly, meetings seem to have moved to Mondays at the cambridge because that's where most of the ultimate crowd goes that intersects with bike club. tough to get down to business with such a large and diverse crowd.
Unger is still working on site issues for our June gathering.
We haven't had a chance to talk about Trev's bike recommendation request in the comments of the previous entry...
hopefully there will be something new to report in the next couple of days...
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Minutes. May 4, 2004
Present: Chris, Unger, Juan Eppstein, Hal, Secretary
Two riders. No peanuts or chips. Is there more to be said? Oh yah, the dark was fine, and everyone at the table enjoyed one... even Juan Eppstein. We may not keep the company alive by volume, but by persistence.
In discussion:
Well, there was likely much more, but remembering is not working, so there is little recourse but to hope other attendees will chime in, in the comments to raise other points.
Two riders. No peanuts or chips. Is there more to be said? Oh yah, the dark was fine, and everyone at the table enjoyed one... even Juan Eppstein. We may not keep the company alive by volume, but by persistence.
In discussion:
- lots of racing talk. Unger, Chris and Hal raced at Birds Hill wednesday, and Unger raced at Grand Beach on Saturday. New experiences for Unger which seemingly put a few things into perspective... like, wow, those guys are fast.
- some minor concerns for the June ride... Hal cannot join us, so we may not be able to do the Tinker part of the ride, but apparently the riding in the trans-canada trail bit is good too... we just need to be able to find it. Unger is almost convinced that he needs to do a reconnaissance ride. Some club encouragement would be a good idea. Juan even went so far as to suggest a change of location to West Hawk...
- on the social scene, turns out Unger was at Olympia this week, and sees this guy in shades and a khaki jacket walking around picking stuff up to buy with little regard to price. As Unger's finishing up at the till, the guy comes up and brings his stuff to the counter. Robin Williams.
Well, there was likely much more, but remembering is not working, so there is little recourse but to hope other attendees will chime in, in the comments to raise other points.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Minutes. April 27, 2004
Present: Chris, Unger, Penner, Jonny, Marls, Secretary
The North Kildonan division of the club showed up on bikes. It only took 30min., which begs a couple of questions: 1) why don't they ride more often; and 2) why don't the closer people ride more often.
Marls brought chips.
Discussion ranged, so here are some of the more Klub oriented thoughts in no particular order:
til next time.
The North Kildonan division of the club showed up on bikes. It only took 30min., which begs a couple of questions: 1) why don't they ride more often; and 2) why don't the closer people ride more often.
Marls brought chips.
Discussion ranged, so here are some of the more Klub oriented thoughts in no particular order:
- Unger will be in his first race tomorrow, at Birds Hill. He tried to register under the FGBC, but we are not registered as a club. For that matter, Chris also registered without a club because Tinker Creek has also not registered.
- related to above, Tinker has not registered because Birch is still closed, and apparently it's not looking particularly good for re-opening.
- young Ben had a crash. Unger, Anita, Ben and Zoe[sp?] were out for a ride on garbage hill. Ben went vertical (head down) and managed to rip his knee open to the bone and break his collarbone. At first the extent of the injuries was unknown, so Unger rides to the nearest phone, calls Adolf, and waits. Adolf isn't coming, Unger's riding up and down Empress waiting for him, finally goes back to the phone for 911, goes back to find Ben shivering and going into shock, so he gives him his shirt and proceeds to ride up and down Empress bareback, waiting for reinforcements. Must have been quite the sight for the locals.
- fortgarrybikeclub.com is now active. As mentioned, no files will move there until a few things get fixed up... but there is a link there to our current site, so if you forget, or want to tell someone about our site, you can start using the new url.
- further in the media department, the president is working on the '04 fgbc DVD. It hopes to include member profiles and live fgbc action.
- Trans-Canada Trail. Jonny rode the bit from the forest at CMU to Beaudry Park and suggests it's a nice ride... other than having to ride over the Perimeter Hwy.
- as there was some question raised over the ability of our humble collective to have two professors as members (see previous blog entry), it seemed worthwhile to hear the humble words of the professor that is able to make it to regular meetings, "it shouldn't be a problem... there may be two profs, but there's still only one Doctor." Apparently it remains in the hands of the other (non-Doctor) prof to test the club's ability to sustain two Dr's.
- some discussion of the bike auction, and auctions in general as potential fund-raisers. The theory is that we will buy cheap at auctions and garage sales, and sell high on ebay. Marls seemed ready to go on this work.
- iron supplements became a significant topic. The race director takes them because he claims its necessary for a nearly vegetarian... our medical officer claims it's a certain level of blood doping. No resolution here. Then it turns out the nearly vegetarian race director isn't the only one on extra iron...
- where the Deevil are Bergen and Luke?
- Marls is still on sticker detail... working on a local option
- finally, we are still proceeding with the spring ride on the given dates... it is not determined where we will be camping yet. Debate between the Minnewasta Lake site and the Stanley Park site...
til next time.
Friday, April 23, 2004
new job for US rep
Trev just posted on his blog that he will be the Assistant Professor of Ethics at Bluffton College. Is there room for two professors in our humble collective?
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
...On with the show this is it!
First and foremost, peanuts were absent (again) from the meeting ... the president is making up a schedule, and you will be contacted.
Onto bike news ... Hal stepped up and displayed his battle scars from his fight with a chain link fence (fence-1, Hal-0), but he will be ok. All we know is 61km/hr + corner = bad.
In other bike club news, the technical director has been in contact with Colin Bock about a maintenace session, so a time a place will be forthcoming shortly.
The Vertex is Unger approved ... go Vertex go!
Wax vs. oil - wax is the winner.
No sighting of Melanie.
fortgarrybikeclub.com is ours - it will be coming to a computer near you soon!
On a side note - the Pixies show did not disappoint (trevor, we were thinking of you). A solid 75 minutes of music, 2 encores, and happy fans in every direction - very, very memorable.
Phil was elected the President of the tubing/toboggan club.
We are hoping for a tour of the Fort Garry plant - we are leaving this in the capable hands of jonny.
Present and accounted for: Dave (Dieter), Darryl, James, Juan, Chris, Hal, Jon (Beans) and me.
Until next time.
Mark (Marls)
Onto bike news ... Hal stepped up and displayed his battle scars from his fight with a chain link fence (fence-1, Hal-0), but he will be ok. All we know is 61km/hr + corner = bad.
In other bike club news, the technical director has been in contact with Colin Bock about a maintenace session, so a time a place will be forthcoming shortly.
The Vertex is Unger approved ... go Vertex go!
Wax vs. oil - wax is the winner.
No sighting of Melanie.
fortgarrybikeclub.com is ours - it will be coming to a computer near you soon!
On a side note - the Pixies show did not disappoint (trevor, we were thinking of you). A solid 75 minutes of music, 2 encores, and happy fans in every direction - very, very memorable.
Phil was elected the President of the tubing/toboggan club.
We are hoping for a tour of the Fort Garry plant - we are leaving this in the capable hands of jonny.
Present and accounted for: Dave (Dieter), Darryl, James, Juan, Chris, Hal, Jon (Beans) and me.
Until next time.
Mark (Marls)
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
April 13 Meeting of the FGBC
Much news to report. Let's get down to it, shall we...
First, attendance. Another newish face, as you will see...
- penner, chris, hal, marles, jonny, secretary, unger, and, yes, aiden se ("se" standing for super esquire).
Well, top of the news was jonny's email to the original FGBC, thanking them for their product, letting them know that we've kind of named our club in parallel with theirs, that we sometimes ride bikes and almost always consume their esteemed product. That was a week or two ago. The recent reply was in the nature of "Good show. Let us know about an event and we'll supply some free product." So, that's a fairly huge response to a potentially dangerous initial contact. The idea of a corporate interfacing portfolio was discussed. I suspect jonny's got it sewed up at this point. It's that darn disarming smile that he puts on in his emails... We'll see where this goes... it was never really, actually, pointedly mentioned that we are working with something of a parallel logo...
Marles is still on sticker detail.... thinking that a 1.5 x 5" effort with "fortgarrybikeclub.com" on it might be nice... so, with that thought, and the news that we are closer than ever to coming out of the closet with the larger FGBC, there was some concern about our level of profile. Jonny closed the discussion with the assertion that, "we are exactly what we are". Done.
Next Race: Garbage Hill, Sunday April 18 @ 2:00pm. Meet at the main gate at the SW corner.
A few members have been enjoying the challenge of Garbage Hill, none more than Hal who got his doors (figuratively speaking of course) blown off by some hot shot on a single speed. There is more than one FGBC member who is skeptical of even making one round on a bike with more gears than we know how to use. (Yes, I realize this is a very strong argument for the single-speed.)
Further to single speeding... Hal reported that the winner at the single speed world championships literally gets branded. It seemed like a good idea for us to consider such an honor for some winner at the big annual ride in June.
Birch discussion: The most recent news on the opening of the Birch riding area is that it's a maybe, but we're making plans to be ready if it does open. The requirements are a) membership in a club which is signed up ($150), and then b) at the very minimum, the plain $5 membership with the MCA. The significant option we're exploring is hooking up with the Tinker Creek guys, and thus dropping the per person amount. It is unclear whether we can exist as a "sister" club, or whether we take the Tinker colours to get through the hoops. Unger is working on the details. Stay tuned for a deadline date to submit a few $$$ to be in. Seven FGBC have made verbal commitments to ante up.
There was contact with the Duke in the last week. He seems confident that he will join us for the spring ride. He's also encouraging the beers and bike stands event to get his ride in order. A fine idea around this emerged, where we would pay Colin B (neighbour of Chris' and bike repair guy) for a group afternoon in his garage. The technical director is looking into this.
Finally, there was once again debate on how to measure results at the upcoming catwalk competition at the spring ride... distance or time?
and how do we factor in the all important style points?
... well, that ranks right up there with, "what's the meaning of life?" doesn't it?
First, attendance. Another newish face, as you will see...
- penner, chris, hal, marles, jonny, secretary, unger, and, yes, aiden se ("se" standing for super esquire).
Well, top of the news was jonny's email to the original FGBC, thanking them for their product, letting them know that we've kind of named our club in parallel with theirs, that we sometimes ride bikes and almost always consume their esteemed product. That was a week or two ago. The recent reply was in the nature of "Good show. Let us know about an event and we'll supply some free product." So, that's a fairly huge response to a potentially dangerous initial contact. The idea of a corporate interfacing portfolio was discussed. I suspect jonny's got it sewed up at this point. It's that darn disarming smile that he puts on in his emails... We'll see where this goes... it was never really, actually, pointedly mentioned that we are working with something of a parallel logo...
Marles is still on sticker detail.... thinking that a 1.5 x 5" effort with "fortgarrybikeclub.com" on it might be nice... so, with that thought, and the news that we are closer than ever to coming out of the closet with the larger FGBC, there was some concern about our level of profile. Jonny closed the discussion with the assertion that, "we are exactly what we are". Done.
Next Race: Garbage Hill, Sunday April 18 @ 2:00pm. Meet at the main gate at the SW corner.
A few members have been enjoying the challenge of Garbage Hill, none more than Hal who got his doors (figuratively speaking of course) blown off by some hot shot on a single speed. There is more than one FGBC member who is skeptical of even making one round on a bike with more gears than we know how to use. (Yes, I realize this is a very strong argument for the single-speed.)
Further to single speeding... Hal reported that the winner at the single speed world championships literally gets branded. It seemed like a good idea for us to consider such an honor for some winner at the big annual ride in June.
Birch discussion: The most recent news on the opening of the Birch riding area is that it's a maybe, but we're making plans to be ready if it does open. The requirements are a) membership in a club which is signed up ($150), and then b) at the very minimum, the plain $5 membership with the MCA. The significant option we're exploring is hooking up with the Tinker Creek guys, and thus dropping the per person amount. It is unclear whether we can exist as a "sister" club, or whether we take the Tinker colours to get through the hoops. Unger is working on the details. Stay tuned for a deadline date to submit a few $$$ to be in. Seven FGBC have made verbal commitments to ante up.
There was contact with the Duke in the last week. He seems confident that he will join us for the spring ride. He's also encouraging the beers and bike stands event to get his ride in order. A fine idea around this emerged, where we would pay Colin B (neighbour of Chris' and bike repair guy) for a group afternoon in his garage. The technical director is looking into this.
Finally, there was once again debate on how to measure results at the upcoming catwalk competition at the spring ride... distance or time?
and how do we factor in the all important style points?
... well, that ranks right up there with, "what's the meaning of life?" doesn't it?
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Doin' it bloggy style!
Let's check in to see what happened last night on the "Adventures of FGBC"...
Hal and Greg checked into for an evening of bike club, Hal biked, impressive.
Hal also gave another great idea for our stickers ... www.thestickerguy.com thanks Hal.
Ideas were bandied about for future races for FGBC, and the idea of poker derby (or game hat) for the June ride in Morden. This was met with a smattering of opinions. What is a game hat anyways? The future race ideas was quite an intense discussion with Chris leading the charge - with all these potential races coming up, it is going to be quite hard to find enough excuses not to attend, some of us will have to dig deep and give 100% in this department. (man, I wish I had brakes, again).
Some sad news - there is a rumour that Ingulf will be clear cut. We need the VP External to look into this for clarification.
On other race news, there is a 24 hour relay taking place at Falcon Lake. Both Hal and Chris are hoping to do it on their own. Hopefully they will keep us posted on a potential date for this event.
Hey, check out Greg's site www.gregorydahl.com It is FGBC approved!
Quorum was met, and it was decided that our new domain name will be fortgarrybikeclub.com. It will cost us $35 and Jonny Beans stepped up and threw 10 in the pot - that a boy beans!
The potential of us riding the naked bike ride/protest was brought up, and pretty much shot down immediately. The question of seats as an option for this ride was tabled, and met with a few laughs and giggles - oh, those silly boys in bike club!
Finally, preliminary discussions arose of a potential 'sistering up' with the Tinker Creek gang, this was met with optimism. Oh yah, Dave got his new ride - the Vertex has been unleashed and is terrorizing Wolseley as we speak - can hardly wait to see it Dave.
Members attending: Dieter, Juan, Dr. Hubie, Darryl, Jon, President and me. Thanks again to Hal and Greg for joining us - come again.
quick hits ... the dark was good, no sighting of Melanie, and no peanuts.
I'm oot and aboot
Mark/Marls
Hal and Greg checked into for an evening of bike club, Hal biked, impressive.
Hal also gave another great idea for our stickers ... www.thestickerguy.com thanks Hal.
Ideas were bandied about for future races for FGBC, and the idea of poker derby (or game hat) for the June ride in Morden. This was met with a smattering of opinions. What is a game hat anyways? The future race ideas was quite an intense discussion with Chris leading the charge - with all these potential races coming up, it is going to be quite hard to find enough excuses not to attend, some of us will have to dig deep and give 100% in this department. (man, I wish I had brakes, again).
Some sad news - there is a rumour that Ingulf will be clear cut. We need the VP External to look into this for clarification.
On other race news, there is a 24 hour relay taking place at Falcon Lake. Both Hal and Chris are hoping to do it on their own. Hopefully they will keep us posted on a potential date for this event.
Hey, check out Greg's site www.gregorydahl.com It is FGBC approved!
Quorum was met, and it was decided that our new domain name will be fortgarrybikeclub.com. It will cost us $35 and Jonny Beans stepped up and threw 10 in the pot - that a boy beans!
The potential of us riding the naked bike ride/protest was brought up, and pretty much shot down immediately. The question of seats as an option for this ride was tabled, and met with a few laughs and giggles - oh, those silly boys in bike club!
Finally, preliminary discussions arose of a potential 'sistering up' with the Tinker Creek gang, this was met with optimism. Oh yah, Dave got his new ride - the Vertex has been unleashed and is terrorizing Wolseley as we speak - can hardly wait to see it Dave.
Members attending: Dieter, Juan, Dr. Hubie, Darryl, Jon, President and me. Thanks again to Hal and Greg for joining us - come again.
quick hits ... the dark was good, no sighting of Melanie, and no peanuts.
I'm oot and aboot
Mark/Marls
Monday, April 05, 2004
World's largest naked (cycling) event
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Sunday, April 04, 2004
new race page - and thoughts on new web domain
just as a follow up to the race director's prior post. I have begun a new season of race recording. I just need some confirmation on the season's point system from said race director. I know that the yellow needs some work.
race page
there seemed to be interest in us getting a new domain name. www.fgbikeclub.com is available. now www.fortgarrybikeclub.com has been suggested (also available). we will finalize the question on tuesday, and proceed. Assuming there are a few $$ contributions to the effort.
race page
there seemed to be interest in us getting a new domain name. www.fgbikeclub.com is available. now www.fortgarrybikeclub.com has been suggested (also available). we will finalize the question on tuesday, and proceed. Assuming there are a few $$ contributions to the effort.
Saturday, April 03, 2004
FGBC Cup #1
The 2004 FGBC racing season is off to a good start. Six riders turned out for the first instalment of the FGBC Cup today at Assiniboine Park. I believe that is a record tunrout for a race. Hearing lots of excuses from those who didn't show--stuff like "my bike's got no breaks." The race: 5 laps of the road loop at the park--roughly 15 kms. Unofficial standings below. Official standings are on Barg's photo of the minivan window we wrote them down on. Tuesday we will hold an election for the pen and paper director, just in case there isn't a dirty minivan lurking around. Next race: Garbage Hill sometime before too long. Stay tuned for more details.
Dr Hubie - 29.59
Johnny G - 33.52
Unger - 33.57
Barg - 34.45
Starlene - 39.16
Anita - 44.17
Dr Hubie - 29.59
Johnny G - 33.52
Unger - 33.57
Barg - 34.45
Starlene - 39.16
Anita - 44.17
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Race Saturday
With the snow all but gone, it's time to get the 2004 race season going. We will wipe the slate clean and start all over again with a new edition of the FGBCC(up). We will meet Saturday morning at 10am at Johnny G's place and likely head over to Assiniboine park from there. I'm thinking of one race a month minimum. Unger and I already have a list of potential race sites, so we hope to introduce a few more venues this season. See you Saturday. No excuses! Will Unger be debuting his new wheels?
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Melanie - 4, the Duke - 2
As Darryl attends to his wet basement, here is what happened Tuesday night...
First off, a big congrats to Chris, Rachel and Miriam as little Jonah joined their family early Sunday morning.
Melanie, the pride of New Brunswick, decided to join bike club. This was met with furrowing of eyebrows, but with her being an "excellent conversationalist" we all took it in stride. This was Melanie's 4th bike club event, 2 more than the Duke, and it showed as she remembered everyone from her last attended meeting and was saddened that Darryl was not there to convert her. She left all to soon, and tears were shed ... until next time Melanie.
It was nice to see the Duke out in full force and it was decided when quorum met that Duke is now the President of the Sushi club, henceforth relinquishing his Vice-Presidency of the Dog Club.
Onto actual bike news - Dieter put in his order for a new bike, the Vertex will be arriving to Home St. soon! We were all quite happy for Dieter, especially Melanie.
In other bike news, little M has her new bike at home, the 'little mermaid'. Dieter, Jon and Chris all agree it is very nice. For the record, it has 2 mermaids stickers - this was verified by lil' M. Here's hoping for good sidewalk weather!
It was good to see Bergen out last night, especially after his story of the flu. After a night in Plum Coulee that never really started, Bergen found himself out of commission for 3 days of work. These 3 days were spent lying in bed, staring, as it was to painful to read a book. Things were beginning to look up for Glenn so he decided to goto A & W and get a burger. Happy with burger in backpack, Glenn is on his way home down the back alley when a cop car pulls up to him and begins an intense interrogation. "WHAT IS YOUR NAME", "SHOW ME SOME ID" and "WHERE WERE YOU JUST NOW" are some of the things Bergen first heard from the boys in blue. To this Glenn explains he is on his way home after getting a cheeseburger from A & W. Then they demand to see the burger - Glenn obliges. As he is reaching for his ID, the second cop comes up behind Bergen and checks his belt for a gun. At this point, Glenn is a bit worried. Apparently, the Domo down the street was just robbed, and after this interrogation, the cops realize Bergen is not their guy. They leave with a parting comment of "Don't take this personally". Bergen finally gets home, eats his burger, and half an hour later, proceeds round 2 of this evil flu - no work the next day either!
Swatter sent his greeting via Duke - a consensus was met that Dave is still the dumbest 'dum-dumb' around.
The Dark was tasting alright. As was the Coors Light, that Melanie had
No peanuts this week.
Race this week - meet at Jon's @ 10am - off to the park.
p.s. James (apparently) is a cheater.
I'm out.
Mark/Marls
First off, a big congrats to Chris, Rachel and Miriam as little Jonah joined their family early Sunday morning.
Melanie, the pride of New Brunswick, decided to join bike club. This was met with furrowing of eyebrows, but with her being an "excellent conversationalist" we all took it in stride. This was Melanie's 4th bike club event, 2 more than the Duke, and it showed as she remembered everyone from her last attended meeting and was saddened that Darryl was not there to convert her. She left all to soon, and tears were shed ... until next time Melanie.
It was nice to see the Duke out in full force and it was decided when quorum met that Duke is now the President of the Sushi club, henceforth relinquishing his Vice-Presidency of the Dog Club.
Onto actual bike news - Dieter put in his order for a new bike, the Vertex will be arriving to Home St. soon! We were all quite happy for Dieter, especially Melanie.
In other bike news, little M has her new bike at home, the 'little mermaid'. Dieter, Jon and Chris all agree it is very nice. For the record, it has 2 mermaids stickers - this was verified by lil' M. Here's hoping for good sidewalk weather!
It was good to see Bergen out last night, especially after his story of the flu. After a night in Plum Coulee that never really started, Bergen found himself out of commission for 3 days of work. These 3 days were spent lying in bed, staring, as it was to painful to read a book. Things were beginning to look up for Glenn so he decided to goto A & W and get a burger. Happy with burger in backpack, Glenn is on his way home down the back alley when a cop car pulls up to him and begins an intense interrogation. "WHAT IS YOUR NAME", "SHOW ME SOME ID" and "WHERE WERE YOU JUST NOW" are some of the things Bergen first heard from the boys in blue. To this Glenn explains he is on his way home after getting a cheeseburger from A & W. Then they demand to see the burger - Glenn obliges. As he is reaching for his ID, the second cop comes up behind Bergen and checks his belt for a gun. At this point, Glenn is a bit worried. Apparently, the Domo down the street was just robbed, and after this interrogation, the cops realize Bergen is not their guy. They leave with a parting comment of "Don't take this personally". Bergen finally gets home, eats his burger, and half an hour later, proceeds round 2 of this evil flu - no work the next day either!
Swatter sent his greeting via Duke - a consensus was met that Dave is still the dumbest 'dum-dumb' around.
The Dark was tasting alright. As was the Coors Light, that Melanie had
No peanuts this week.
Race this week - meet at Jon's @ 10am - off to the park.
p.s. James (apparently) is a cheater.
I'm out.
Mark/Marls
Wednesday, March 24, 2004
The big "V", peanuts, and other ramblings on a Tuesday night...
With Darryl out west, I get the dubious honor/chore of taking minutes, so here we go...
First off, a big thanks to the President as he stepped up and brought 2 bags of peanuts for the evening, and as grateful as we are to him, a big round of applause goes Lori, as she was the one who purchased salted, AND unsalted peanuts for FGBC. WE know why the President is really just a figure head in this institution - the real power is behind the scenes.
Continuing on with the President, talk turned to his recent vasectomy, and how the freezing REALLY didn't take all that well. At one point Brian yelped loud enough to merit four more shots of freezing - the surgery continued, as did the episode of seinfeld Brian was able to watch. Sweating profusely, and white knuckling his way through the rest of the surgery, all is done, until the first sample needs to be brought in.
At this point, the discussion turned to others who have had the surgery. Everyone agreed theirs went smoother than Penners, and in a few months, he could bring in his first sample. This is where the FGBC came in - we decided that we could potentially be a courier service for men who need to verify the surgery was done correctly. We voted Darryl to head up a committee to further look into this endeavor.
A wrinkle arose when Dave (Dieter) alerted the group that we would need a guide for our Tinker Creek ride, as much of the course is on private property. We waited for quorum, and when met, we decided to pursue this guide for our ride. Dieter will keep us posted.
Speaking of Dieter, he is still not happy with his current ride, and is in discussions/negotiations with James of Tinker Creek about a new ride - a Vertex (swell name) by Rocky Mountain. We were all excited for Dieter, and wished him all the best in this continued search for a new bike.
A bike maintenance day was proposed by Penner - this was met with great approval and excitement. Dr. Hubie coined it as a day of "beer and bike stands". This also was met with approval.
A discussion on dogs arose...Luke and the Duke are President and Vice President of this new chapter. Good luck gentlemen!
Turning back to bike related matters, our next race will be at Whittier Park on the weekend of April 3 and 4. Time and actual date has yet to be determined. Dr. Hubie will keep us posted.
That concludes this weeks meeting.
I'm OOT
Mark (Marls . . . get the spelling right Darryl)
Attendees: President, Juan, Dave, James, Chris, and Me
First off, a big thanks to the President as he stepped up and brought 2 bags of peanuts for the evening, and as grateful as we are to him, a big round of applause goes Lori, as she was the one who purchased salted, AND unsalted peanuts for FGBC. WE know why the President is really just a figure head in this institution - the real power is behind the scenes.
Continuing on with the President, talk turned to his recent vasectomy, and how the freezing REALLY didn't take all that well. At one point Brian yelped loud enough to merit four more shots of freezing - the surgery continued, as did the episode of seinfeld Brian was able to watch. Sweating profusely, and white knuckling his way through the rest of the surgery, all is done, until the first sample needs to be brought in.
At this point, the discussion turned to others who have had the surgery. Everyone agreed theirs went smoother than Penners, and in a few months, he could bring in his first sample. This is where the FGBC came in - we decided that we could potentially be a courier service for men who need to verify the surgery was done correctly. We voted Darryl to head up a committee to further look into this endeavor.
A wrinkle arose when Dave (Dieter) alerted the group that we would need a guide for our Tinker Creek ride, as much of the course is on private property. We waited for quorum, and when met, we decided to pursue this guide for our ride. Dieter will keep us posted.
Speaking of Dieter, he is still not happy with his current ride, and is in discussions/negotiations with James of Tinker Creek about a new ride - a Vertex (swell name) by Rocky Mountain. We were all excited for Dieter, and wished him all the best in this continued search for a new bike.
A bike maintenance day was proposed by Penner - this was met with great approval and excitement. Dr. Hubie coined it as a day of "beer and bike stands". This also was met with approval.
A discussion on dogs arose...Luke and the Duke are President and Vice President of this new chapter. Good luck gentlemen!
Turning back to bike related matters, our next race will be at Whittier Park on the weekend of April 3 and 4. Time and actual date has yet to be determined. Dr. Hubie will keep us posted.
That concludes this weeks meeting.
I'm OOT
Mark (Marls . . . get the spelling right Darryl)
Attendees: President, Juan, Dave, James, Chris, and Me
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
fgbikeclub.com or fortgarrybc.com?
Amongst other things, we debated what a new domain could look like, and be named like. The president advocated the latter because it leaves openness to other clubs with the fort garry prefix. Please register your opinions in the comments. It would cost the club about $30/year to go to a site with our own domain name.
Conversation rambled. There was no major agenda, what with the date discussion out of the way. Some of the topics were:
Present: Marles, President, Secretary, James, Unger, Jonny, Chris, Luke
Conversation rambled. There was no major agenda, what with the date discussion out of the way. Some of the topics were:
- merchandise. Marles is now heavily pushing the idea of FGBC stickers. Hopefully he will anti up with a little research on this.
- bike sale. Unger has an opportunity to purchase a bike for $1600 off. well, that leaves a price of $2400. actually, the deal is available to any FGBC member. Since it seems Unger will not be taking advantage of this obvious deal, you can contact him to get more details.
- member Jerry. had a little phone call with Jerry this eve, before the meeting. apparently he's in the club. It seemed like a good thing. He's already been riding. The issue was brought up as to whether there was space for two non-resident Loeppky's in the group. No decision was made.
- other regular items were brought up like Marles' single speed brake issue, location of our spring ride, etc.
- oh, Luke made it out. nice to see. so the discussion of fixing his bike came up again. Just as a reminder to you, the reader, it was put somewhat out of commission at last spring's ride... yes, that means he hasn't really ridden it since then, although that isn't ususally mentioned in such a forward way when the topic comes up.
Present: Marles, President, Secretary, James, Unger, Jonny, Chris, Luke
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
the date stays! June 11-13, 2004 for the spring ride
With some amount of disbelief, let it be stated here, for the final time, that the date decided upon for the spring ride at last week's meeting stands. As we gathered this evening, there was a note of tension, nay, apprehension, that all last week's good work at discerning a date might be undone in a few simple words, like, "I can't come".
It is my priviledge to report, that even as the President brought out "the book", there was no single person present to throw a stumbling block into the finely tuned plan. While pertinent questions were raised: what about the people who aren't here? is this quorum? the usual... the response was in unison, "too bad, they could have come to the meeting, or sent their concerns by blog comment or email". It is destined to be a fine event.
In other commentary:
Present: secretary, Marles, Unger, Jonny, Chris, Penner, Jimmy
It is my priviledge to report, that even as the President brought out "the book", there was no single person present to throw a stumbling block into the finely tuned plan. While pertinent questions were raised: what about the people who aren't here? is this quorum? the usual... the response was in unison, "too bad, they could have come to the meeting, or sent their concerns by blog comment or email". It is destined to be a fine event.
In other commentary:
- Unger was encouraged to be proactive in assessing options for camping other than the Morden campground.
- Fundraising opportunities spread to the Fort Garry Bike Club Golf Tournament. It was thought that a club some distance from most population was highly prudent. Luke certainly has his work cut out.
- new merchandise was the topic of some discussion. Marles favoured many items, but started the discussion off with the thought of a new shirt. Hats (nice caps with mesh back and foamy front, old skool like), socks, gitch, and wrist bands were options mentioned. Stongly affirmed were the MEC long sleeve riding shirts. Members could choose their own colour/style and then we would gather them together to have them screened.
- some discussion of a letter to Fort Garry Brewing Company, about how they are infringing on our logo, or rather, how there seems to be some confusion over who's is nicer, took place. The motive behind such a letter was rather vague, but had to do with possibilities of sponsorship in the form of $$s for shirts, or maybe a free beverage. This is not new ground, but now that we have a VP (External) as part of the club structure, we may have the framework within which to begin such discussion in earnest.
- the idea of retaining legal counsel, (also not exactly new in the context of the previous point) was taken to a new level after the letter discussion, as names began to be bandied about. (This discussion remains "in camera" because we don't want a bidding war for the job to become ugly.) It seemed that a cap for being able to retain such counsel (not actually to do any work, but so we could say we have legal counsel) settled in at around $5, or a pint of Dark.
Present: secretary, Marles, Unger, Jonny, Chris, Penner, Jimmy
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
down to business
well, business was the order of the day. not did we hit five members present and the excitement about getting on planning the next "big event" was underway. there is a veritable list of business items.
Present: President Penner (with book in hand), Unger, Bergen, Marles, Juan, Jonny, Chris, James F, secretary.
Present: President Penner (with book in hand), Unger, Bergen, Marles, Juan, Jonny, Chris, James F, secretary.
- site options. very near a consensus emerged that we investigate the Morden/Tinker Creek area as the primary option. The usual other options were voiced: Ingulf, Spruce Woods, Riding Mountain, Moab.
- accomodations. with Morden as the primary site, Unger stepped up to the camping coordinator role. First choice was some piece of private bush, but it was deemed that the campground would likely be fairly low on guests at the date proposed.
- date. yes, gentle reader, we did tackle the date question head on. Two dates emerged. Middle of May, or middle of June. The President's holidays fall right in the middle of those. At first mid-May was ahead, but, as is usually the case, time to ponder the issues coupled with a heapin' helpin' of group discernment, and the dates June 11-13 rang somewhat victorious. The potential conditions of any of the above mentioned trails, what with all the snow this year, and the area south of Morden's generous dollop of gumbo, made things somewhat more clear.
- fundraising. enthusiasm coalesced over the, at first tongue-in-cheek, but eventually acknowledged, stellar idea of the Fort Garry Bike Club annual curling bonspiel. Leadership to this event was handed to numerous people as they walked in, and yet, it seemed like the idea was not home for each potential potentate. Clarity was ours after the hockey members arrived, discerned themselves out and passed the torch. When there was no one to pass the torch to, stock was taken over members not present, and the name Luke was gleefully proclaimed. "We have a winner!"
- other.
- club structure. a couple of new portfolios are in place.
- Bergen: Vice President (Exernal) - we'll still need to work on defining the role, but the title is confirmed. With his upcoming position as assistant to the assistant for the VP (External) at the Uni, it should come into focus over the next year or two.
- Unger: accomodations task force, and bun baking.
- Penner and Barg: rediscerned themselves to the dog committee.
- Fundraising for the next jersey: Luke - long term goals. - week long trip to Medora in about six years
- two or three day road trip (ie. carry your stuff on your bike to a determined destination)
- wheelie competition
- contact Team Brown ( a job for the VP (external) perhaps?)
- club structure. a couple of new portfolios are in place.
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
minutes - not really
the biggest action today is in the previous posts. most of that detail was reviewed.
In member news, Bergen blew his chance at a little EI by accepting a job at the Uni that makes him something like the assistant to the assistant to the VP, External. The President and I were trying to determine whether that doesnt actually make him VP, External of the FGBC.
The president also raised the question as to whether there shouldn't be a bit of a cabinet shuffle. General consensus was... no.
The president will also be bringing his datebook to the next meeting, so we will begin discussions of the spring event date in earnest. It may be too much to hope that we could keep this discussion down to five or six meetings...
In member news, Bergen blew his chance at a little EI by accepting a job at the Uni that makes him something like the assistant to the assistant to the VP, External. The President and I were trying to determine whether that doesnt actually make him VP, External of the FGBC.
The president also raised the question as to whether there shouldn't be a bit of a cabinet shuffle. General consensus was... no.
The president will also be bringing his datebook to the next meeting, so we will begin discussions of the spring event date in earnest. It may be too much to hope that we could keep this discussion down to five or six meetings...
"i guess you didn't get pixies tickets, i heard they sold out in 3 minutes!"
this is what i have been hearing since around 10:30 saturday morning. well, let me tell you about one of my greatest days ever...
it is about 6:30 am as i look at my watch, this is also the time i jump out of bed, throw on some clothes and run out the door - i have slept in on the biggest potential music-making day in winnipegs history!
wiping sleep from my eyes, i am screaming down osborne after picking up shane (brother-in-law) as we race towards a little known gem of an outlet to buy tickets - the winnipeg goldeyes stadium. as we arrive, we see 4 "dudes" in line...we approach with caution.
"hi" they say - we reply "hello" all is good. i look at my watch - 7:30, not bad, 5th in line, this should get us tickets...or will it! patrick (my new best friend) and zach have been there since 6:30 am, and this has granted them 1st and 2nd in line. we proceed to make small talk ie. weather, getting tix at this unlikely venue, what song will they lead off the set with. it is all good - for a while. then self-doubt begins to set in as we begin to question whether or not our early morning line up will get us tix. this is the first show of the pixies in 11 years! we had all heard the rumours of people calling from as far away as australia trying to secure tix. but no, we had to be rewarded for our dedication. we all decide we have nothing to worry about - we were going to be alright!
fast forward to 9:55am. dennis, the keeper of the gate/ticket overlord is amazed to see this many people in line for tix. he has never heard of the pixies. 9:59am...1 minute till we find out if we leave with smiles on our faces, or chairs being thrown through windows. 10am...patrick gets 4 seats in the 5th row. zach is next - he gets 4. then 2 guys whose names i forget get their tix. then, sweaty and excited i step up to the gate, cash in hand, i blurt out "4 tickets please". dennis then says to me "sold out". to this i say, rather loudly, "sold out...NO". immediately, the 30 people behind me fall dead silent. i feel really sick - i look at my watch, it reads 10:03:09am. then dennis says "would you like single tix". "YES" is my response. i get 4 single seats - i am beside myself...i am going to see the pixies!!!
i look back in line, shane has been able to secure 3 single seats. then ice bergen steps up - he gets 2 single seats. we all smile at each other. then the guy with the mullet behind glenn gets 1 ticket, he saw them in vancouver at their last performance ever. until now.
we go home happy and sweaty - that was really intense.
the pixies. april 14, 2004. burton cummings theatre. holy shit - i am going to see the pixies!
i'm oot
mark (marls)
it is about 6:30 am as i look at my watch, this is also the time i jump out of bed, throw on some clothes and run out the door - i have slept in on the biggest potential music-making day in winnipegs history!
wiping sleep from my eyes, i am screaming down osborne after picking up shane (brother-in-law) as we race towards a little known gem of an outlet to buy tickets - the winnipeg goldeyes stadium. as we arrive, we see 4 "dudes" in line...we approach with caution.
"hi" they say - we reply "hello" all is good. i look at my watch - 7:30, not bad, 5th in line, this should get us tickets...or will it! patrick (my new best friend) and zach have been there since 6:30 am, and this has granted them 1st and 2nd in line. we proceed to make small talk ie. weather, getting tix at this unlikely venue, what song will they lead off the set with. it is all good - for a while. then self-doubt begins to set in as we begin to question whether or not our early morning line up will get us tix. this is the first show of the pixies in 11 years! we had all heard the rumours of people calling from as far away as australia trying to secure tix. but no, we had to be rewarded for our dedication. we all decide we have nothing to worry about - we were going to be alright!
fast forward to 9:55am. dennis, the keeper of the gate/ticket overlord is amazed to see this many people in line for tix. he has never heard of the pixies. 9:59am...1 minute till we find out if we leave with smiles on our faces, or chairs being thrown through windows. 10am...patrick gets 4 seats in the 5th row. zach is next - he gets 4. then 2 guys whose names i forget get their tix. then, sweaty and excited i step up to the gate, cash in hand, i blurt out "4 tickets please". dennis then says to me "sold out". to this i say, rather loudly, "sold out...NO". immediately, the 30 people behind me fall dead silent. i feel really sick - i look at my watch, it reads 10:03:09am. then dennis says "would you like single tix". "YES" is my response. i get 4 single seats - i am beside myself...i am going to see the pixies!!!
i look back in line, shane has been able to secure 3 single seats. then ice bergen steps up - he gets 2 single seats. we all smile at each other. then the guy with the mullet behind glenn gets 1 ticket, he saw them in vancouver at their last performance ever. until now.
we go home happy and sweaty - that was really intense.
the pixies. april 14, 2004. burton cummings theatre. holy shit - i am going to see the pixies!
i'm oot
mark (marls)
bike advocacy geek
good heavens. i have just our man. too bad he lives in KW. check out this beauty article on Bechtel's dad on trev's blog!
The other "Mennonite Rider".
The other "Mennonite Rider".
Can't Afford Enough Money for the Fucking Bus?
Or something to that effect were the words that came hurtling at me as I stood in the slush on the side of the road in front of my house in order to let the rusty red Taurus drive by. I was caught so offgaurd that all I could do was smile, hop back on my bike, and ride on. A month ago I was accused by a colleague at work of being inconsiderate because I ride my bike to work in the snow. On the one hand, I can't for the life of me understand what it is that arouses such passionate anger among those we are trying to share the road with? On the other hand, I know perfectly well as I almost daily unleash foul-mouthed tirades directed at moronic motor vehicles--though mostly underneath my balaclava.
Yesterday, a Duke University MD/PhD student set some sort of first in US legal history in becoming the first person to be awarded significant damages for an accident that resulted in using his bike as traffic. I think he got a quarter of a million dollars, but unfortunately also some severly broken bones. I suppose that's kind of like a backward step in the right direction.
Wait a minute. I'm supposed to be the technical director and race organizer, not the bike advocacy geek. We need someone else to take up the charge. Nominations will be held this evening at the F&H.
Yesterday, a Duke University MD/PhD student set some sort of first in US legal history in becoming the first person to be awarded significant damages for an accident that resulted in using his bike as traffic. I think he got a quarter of a million dollars, but unfortunately also some severly broken bones. I suppose that's kind of like a backward step in the right direction.
Wait a minute. I'm supposed to be the technical director and race organizer, not the bike advocacy geek. We need someone else to take up the charge. Nominations will be held this evening at the F&H.
Monday, February 23, 2004
Landis wins in Portugal
Though I'm not ready to declare an end to mourning the death of Pantani, there is some significant reason to be happy right now. Floyd Landis, "The Mennonite Rider" and honourary FGBC member, pulled off a big win at the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal this past week. Floyd looks to be in good form early in the season, losing to Armstrong by only a second in the 24 km time trial, and clinching victory with an attack on the final mountain stage.
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
a day late with the minutes
Whoa, I'm slipping a bit. It's a busy week.
A fine gathering. Biking discussion did override the noteable concern about Pixies tickets. Of most interest was a turn in the discussion for the spring ride.
Spruce Woods was again mentioned, but then your humble secretary blurted something to the effect of, "but I don't want to go to Spruce Woods". With floor priviledges firmly inhand, said secretary explained that it might be nice if we find a location that might keep the technical level up a bit. This would ensure that the stronger riders would have diversions along the way that might keep the pack together. Without a number of technical stops, the only interesting thing for the strong riders would be to see how many miles ahead they could get from the others. "What about the "south of Morden/Tinker Creek" area?" asked the secretary. So, further discussion began unpacking the options in this part of our fair province. Stayed tuned. We may tackle the date question in the coming months.
Luke spoke about building a single-speed.... perhaps to avoid ever getting his bike fixed from the last spring ride.
Unger did a little show and tell with his new helmut. Original price $150, purchased for under one hun. Not to mention that he was the only member who rode to the meeting.
The race director did a little explaining on the ins and outs of the Tour de France, and brought up the death of the guy in the previous post.
Members gathered: Chris, Unger, Jonny G, the secretary, Marles, Luke, James and then the related hockey collective.
A fine gathering. Biking discussion did override the noteable concern about Pixies tickets. Of most interest was a turn in the discussion for the spring ride.
Spruce Woods was again mentioned, but then your humble secretary blurted something to the effect of, "but I don't want to go to Spruce Woods". With floor priviledges firmly inhand, said secretary explained that it might be nice if we find a location that might keep the technical level up a bit. This would ensure that the stronger riders would have diversions along the way that might keep the pack together. Without a number of technical stops, the only interesting thing for the strong riders would be to see how many miles ahead they could get from the others. "What about the "south of Morden/Tinker Creek" area?" asked the secretary. So, further discussion began unpacking the options in this part of our fair province. Stayed tuned. We may tackle the date question in the coming months.
Luke spoke about building a single-speed.... perhaps to avoid ever getting his bike fixed from the last spring ride.
Unger did a little show and tell with his new helmut. Original price $150, purchased for under one hun. Not to mention that he was the only member who rode to the meeting.
The race director did a little explaining on the ins and outs of the Tour de France, and brought up the death of the guy in the previous post.
Members gathered: Chris, Unger, Jonny G, the secretary, Marles, Luke, James and then the related hockey collective.
Monday, February 16, 2004
A time for mourning
I think it would be appropriate to have some sort of official time of mourning to honour the memory of one of cycling's great legends. Marco Pantani died this past weekend at 34. Pantani was the last winner of the Tour de France (1998) before some guy named Armstrong decided to make it his personal obsession, and was one of the purest climbers ever--kind of like our very own Luke Snider. Sadly, he was perhaps even more troubled and emotionally fragile than he was brilliant as a rider. While the results of an autopsy are not yet in, it's being suggested he either died of an overdose of anti-depressants or of a heart attack (which would suggest doping). See the coverage at Velo News or cyclingnews.com.
I don't exactly know what would be appropriate in terms of mourning. A black armband wouldn't exactly stand out given the colour of our jerseys. Perhaps wearing bandanas for our next few club rides would be a fitting tribute.
I don't exactly know what would be appropriate in terms of mourning. A black armband wouldn't exactly stand out given the colour of our jerseys. Perhaps wearing bandanas for our next few club rides would be a fitting tribute.
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Icebike 2004 pics up
Well, I posted the Icebike pics from Jonny and Charlene. They are there as I received them...
I used a program to very quickly put them in gallery form which is much quicker than the way I've been doing it, but maybe not quite as nice. Let me know what you think of this gallery type.
Chris sent me a link to another picture where he's ahead of some famous cycling guy here in the city, but the link didn't work. Stay tuned. We'll figure it out yet.
I used a program to very quickly put them in gallery form which is much quicker than the way I've been doing it, but maybe not quite as nice. Let me know what you think of this gallery type.
Chris sent me a link to another picture where he's ahead of some famous cycling guy here in the city, but the link didn't work. Stay tuned. We'll figure it out yet.
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
little biking news, but the Pixies are coming
there was little news in our biking world. Chris crashed again, on the same corner that's burned him many times. He did show the wound on his knee. He also reported that the Icebike race was a fine experience. We should all be pleased with his results which are a launching the FGBC into new levels of status. I guess he would have had to tell someone that he rides with FGBC.... you did do that loud and proud, didn't you Chris? at least quietly?
I have been promised a few pictures of the Icebike event, but will not hold my breath for them to turn up in my inbox. Rest assured, they will go on the site if they do arrive.
so, the big news at my end of the table was the Pixies reunion tour which kicks off in, you guessed it, Winnipeg. this is significant because it was clear that we would be participating in our first bke club funeral if Marles doesn't get tickets. Torn between the ecstasy of imagining being at the show (which will take place at the Walker, a fine, small venue for such a show), and the debilitating fear of not getting tickets, Bergen and Marles were fairly roughed up.
I think a change in the weather will bring biking more to the forefront of discussions again... not to mention that it should take us a month or two to nail down a date for our weekend gathering...
I have been promised a few pictures of the Icebike event, but will not hold my breath for them to turn up in my inbox. Rest assured, they will go on the site if they do arrive.
so, the big news at my end of the table was the Pixies reunion tour which kicks off in, you guessed it, Winnipeg. this is significant because it was clear that we would be participating in our first bke club funeral if Marles doesn't get tickets. Torn between the ecstasy of imagining being at the show (which will take place at the Walker, a fine, small venue for such a show), and the debilitating fear of not getting tickets, Bergen and Marles were fairly roughed up.
I think a change in the weather will bring biking more to the forefront of discussions again... not to mention that it should take us a month or two to nail down a date for our weekend gathering...
Monday, February 02, 2004
Icebike
I'll try to write a longer update for the blog in the next little while, but for now let me just say that Icebike was a resounding success. The weather was great, and though the cold temps throughout the week resulted in smaller crowd there were still 100+ riders out on the course, which is the most in any race I've ever been to. 45 riders started in the Abominable (20k) men's category, including me and Jonny as well as a significant contingent representing the Tinker Creek colours. I'm happy to report that I finished first among those two groupings, and 13th overall. While I'm pleased with that, I'm still pissed for a spill on the last downhill section that screwed up my gearing and cost me two places in the standings.
Results are available online. Also, Charlene took a bunch of pictures on their new digital camera, which I told her to send you. But in the mean time, the MCA site has one picture with me and Hal in it. In case it's not clear whose who, I'm 2nd from the top and Hal is closest to the bottom. I couldn't find Jonny in any of the pictures they had up.
Postrace consensus among Jonny and myself was that there is no good reason we shouldn't make this a mandatory bike club event. The race course itself was far easier than what we did in and around Whittier park. So no reason to be affraid from the skills/technical standpoint. Charlene is also looking to make a statement in the womens category, having recognized a few women who finished at or close to the top and feeling confident that she could take them. That's the spirit.
We will give a fuller report on Tuesday. Later.
Chris.
Results are available online. Also, Charlene took a bunch of pictures on their new digital camera, which I told her to send you. But in the mean time, the MCA site has one picture with me and Hal in it. In case it's not clear whose who, I'm 2nd from the top and Hal is closest to the bottom. I couldn't find Jonny in any of the pictures they had up.
Postrace consensus among Jonny and myself was that there is no good reason we shouldn't make this a mandatory bike club event. The race course itself was far easier than what we did in and around Whittier park. So no reason to be affraid from the skills/technical standpoint. Charlene is also looking to make a statement in the womens category, having recognized a few women who finished at or close to the top and feeling confident that she could take them. That's the spirit.
We will give a fuller report on Tuesday. Later.
Chris.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
-51 with windchill
sorry, this secretary took no notes last night. Perhaps others can chime in on the comments to remind about a piece of discussion that was significant. With today's temperature, it might be interesting to hear if Juan and Chris actually rode... guys? any comments? do you live?
Bike Club related:
Chris has sort of convinced Jonny to ride this sunday in the Ice Bike race. That will be the extent of FGBC participation in the event. It's a growing phenomenon however, I can feel that next year will be a big year at this race for the club. Results will be posted on the race page.
Marles is thinking about turning his current bike into a single speed and buying something new in spring.
Jonny had a very nice one hour clinic with the Olympia people on Portage. I forget the tech's name, but Jonny was allowed to watch/help change his cables and adjust the derailleur (I can't spell helmut [sic], but I love derailleur). Very nice of the Olympia people.
Other:
The Darkness Website Miss this new rock band at your peril, apparently. I hope to check the site out later today.
work issues continued to dominate discussion. Marles going for an interview today, Unger writing his ticket for a 22hr work week, Bergen doing well with uncertainty, Chris also living with some uncertainty. No work = No $$ for bike stuff.
Bike Club related:
Other:
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
the stinky dead guy was in the Collective
well, there was a bit of biking discussion, but larger discussions raged about where they found the dead guy who had been dead for quite a while. Marles insisted Ozzies, the general consensus from the rest was in the basement of the Collective Cabaret, just a block away.
Other significant discussions, or rather, ones I found entertaining were:
Marles holding forth on the state of the record industry, having been an insider for many years. The general consensus here is that the state is not, in fact, good. There seems to be a new level of revival in the indie scene, but it's an uphill battle. If he would open a record shop, it would have to be a specialty shop of some sort. Vinyl, or classical or something. In fact, opening a diner seemed a greater interest. So much for the music industry.
James continuing to insist, against a strong majority, that the second Matrix was worth the plastic it was printed on, and that the third Lord of the Rings was really bad. He seemingly was not in tune with the rest of the gathered assembly. The crowd was analytically sharp and condemned almost every piece of the second Matrix, and then in a group switch, went into a softer, forgiving, nearly sentimental stance for the efforts in the last Lord of the Rings.
Attendees of the club included: jonny, marles, the president, james, chris, juan eppstein, and the secretary.
From this reporter's standpoint, every effort at raising the issue of club participation in the Icebike race was almost ignored. I tried (which, admittedly is easy because I can't ride yet) and the technical/race director tried, but with basically no response. The president did at least say something, which is the same as every other time, "I've used up all my sick time for this year." Not really encouraging stuff.
Forge on Race Director. I hope I can be there to cheerlead...
Other significant discussions, or rather, ones I found entertaining were:
Attendees of the club included: jonny, marles, the president, james, chris, juan eppstein, and the secretary.
From this reporter's standpoint, every effort at raising the issue of club participation in the Icebike race was almost ignored. I tried (which, admittedly is easy because I can't ride yet) and the technical/race director tried, but with basically no response. The president did at least say something, which is the same as every other time, "I've used up all my sick time for this year." Not really encouraging stuff.
Forge on Race Director. I hope I can be there to cheerlead...
Friday, January 16, 2004
the link for Simpsons and "Breaking Away"
Here's the link Chris was trying to get going in the previous post:
Simpsons and Breaking Away
It's a nice article.
Simpsons and Breaking Away
It's a nice article.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
A couple of things
First, it turns out my new helmet purchase was less of a deal than it appeared at first. Yesterday I got a bill from FedEx for an additional $25 for duty, etc. Should have seen that one coming. Just a warning to anyone who might be tempted to order from US online companies.
Had an adventuresome ride into work yesterday. Everything was going fine until Omand's Creek, which I was prepared to hike through. But I was not prepared for Wellington Cresc. to be such a mess. Lots of loose snow, and it was a sheet of ice underneath. It took me about 35 minutes to get in rather than the usual 15-20. There were good stretches where it was simply impossible to stay on two wheels. At one point--I guess I was looking a little bit screwed--a pickup truck pulled up beside me to ask if I wanted a lift. Turned out to be one of my students, who probably now thinks he's set with brownie points for life. But we all know better than that.
At school, one of my colleagues suggested that it was "inconsiderate" of me to have biked into work in those conditions. It seems Charles Adler had a little rant on CJOB on the drive in to work attacking all of Winnipeg's loyal bike commuters for shutting down the morning commute. It seems we staged a critical mass ride without even knowing it. I'm not sure if these sorts of vitriolic responses on redneck radio are a good or a bad thing. In the no news is bad news sense of things, I suppose its not all bad that people are talking about bikes as traffic. But in the good old USA, Clear Channel (a top 40/redneck radio network) is in trouble with the law for having several of its DJs making on-air encouragements to run cyclists off the road. A number of incidents in North Carolina and Texas seem to suggest that drivers were more than willing to heed their advice.
Spain apaprently just passed a law permitting cyclists to ride two abreast on all roads. Still this didn't prevent some pro cyclists out for a training ride from getting run into a guard rail by some overly aggressive old man. Seems the world has it in for us these days. But let's be strong, resist the coffin-driving evildoers, and stay on the narrow path.
Apparently last Sunday's episode of the Simpson's featured an homage to the old classic cycling movie "Breaking Away." Did any one see it or, even better, happen to record it? Perhaps we should hold a screening of the film as a Bike Club even in the near future. This could be the sort of Bike Club event that even the Duke might come to. In any case, see for more on the Simpsons and "Breaking Away."
Starting to get excited about the Icebike race. Anyone interested in in a ride this weekend?
Had an adventuresome ride into work yesterday. Everything was going fine until Omand's Creek, which I was prepared to hike through. But I was not prepared for Wellington Cresc. to be such a mess. Lots of loose snow, and it was a sheet of ice underneath. It took me about 35 minutes to get in rather than the usual 15-20. There were good stretches where it was simply impossible to stay on two wheels. At one point--I guess I was looking a little bit screwed--a pickup truck pulled up beside me to ask if I wanted a lift. Turned out to be one of my students, who probably now thinks he's set with brownie points for life. But we all know better than that.
At school, one of my colleagues suggested that it was "inconsiderate" of me to have biked into work in those conditions. It seems Charles Adler had a little rant on CJOB on the drive in to work attacking all of Winnipeg's loyal bike commuters for shutting down the morning commute. It seems we staged a critical mass ride without even knowing it. I'm not sure if these sorts of vitriolic responses on redneck radio are a good or a bad thing. In the no news is bad news sense of things, I suppose its not all bad that people are talking about bikes as traffic. But in the good old USA, Clear Channel (a top 40/redneck radio network) is in trouble with the law for having several of its DJs making on-air encouragements to run cyclists off the road. A number of incidents in North Carolina and Texas seem to suggest that drivers were more than willing to heed their advice.
Spain apaprently just passed a law permitting cyclists to ride two abreast on all roads. Still this didn't prevent some pro cyclists out for a training ride from getting run into a guard rail by some overly aggressive old man. Seems the world has it in for us these days. But let's be strong, resist the coffin-driving evildoers, and stay on the narrow path.
Apparently last Sunday's episode of the Simpson's featured an homage to the old classic cycling movie "Breaking Away." Did any one see it or, even better, happen to record it? Perhaps we should hold a screening of the film as a Bike Club even in the near future. This could be the sort of Bike Club event that even the Duke might come to. In any case, see for more on the Simpsons and "Breaking Away."
Starting to get excited about the Icebike race. Anyone interested in in a ride this weekend?
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
last night's gathering
Nice to see Marles and the President out on a wintery Winnipeg evening. With no specific agenda, conversation went in the usual places... starting with, how's the Dark this evening. It was good.
Chris showed up with a lovely catalogue of cycling accesories. He just ordered a helmet from these folks. www.performancebike.com
There is some excitement building about the Icebike Race Feb. 1. Check the post below for the link to the site and the registration form.
Club members gathered: The president, Luke, Jonny, Marles, Chris, James, the secretary plus some of the usual hockey guys.
For the record, there was some debate as to when we began formal planning for last year's trip. A trip to the minutes archive revealed that minutes were first kept on March 25, 2003. That isn't to say that discussions didn't take place sooner... years sooner in fact.
Chris showed up with a lovely catalogue of cycling accesories. He just ordered a helmet from these folks. www.performancebike.com
There is some excitement building about the Icebike Race Feb. 1. Check the post below for the link to the site and the registration form.
Club members gathered: The president, Luke, Jonny, Marles, Chris, James, the secretary plus some of the usual hockey guys.
For the record, there was some debate as to when we began formal planning for last year's trip. A trip to the minutes archive revealed that minutes were first kept on March 25, 2003. That isn't to say that discussions didn't take place sooner... years sooner in fact.
Monday, January 12, 2004
Icebike Race 2004 website up
The website for the 2004 Icebike race is up. There had been some discussion that we would try to attend as a team, flying our colours, or, in the case of black, the absence of colour.
The Icebike Race 2004 Site
This link should not be confused with the Icebike Site link in the links section on the right which connects to the fine Icebike Site in general.
The Icebike Race 2004 Site
This link should not be confused with the Icebike Site link in the links section on the right which connects to the fine Icebike Site in general.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Fruitful Christmas, delightful gathering
Well, a gathering of the gift laden bike club members... an excellent turnout at the club house (despite the fact that they were out of dark... pathetic) turned into a sharing of Christmas bike riding booty. It seems there were no Buy Nothing Christmases for those attending the meeting. As if Aiden would want to see the bicycle industry collapse.
How's this for a list of goods for those present:
Jonny: helmut (after my "helmet" misspelling in the previous post, i feel i might stick with the slightly revised version... this would not be a bad name for the kid Jonny); bike stand (for cleaning/tuning, not "kick stand" apparently); jersey; bike tool.
Juan: bike computer
Unger: bike computer; socks; under-the-helmut toque
Chris: big $$ racing helmut; shoes; socks; sunglasses
Penner: (not actually present at the meeting due to work commitments) helmut; clipless pedals
Bergen: jersey; back flashing safety light
Luke: winter riding jersey
James: balaclava
the secretary: as mentioned below in the previous post.
Some excitement surfaced about the spring ride. Location was, predictably, the priority. Spruce Woods got some very good billing. It seems many of us were looking forward to another spring ride.
Juan shared about his latest wipe-out in Assiniboine Park, and we heard about Chris crashing because a dog swerved at him. The trials of hardcore winter riding.
In related news.Unger shared that he's quitting his job. Some freelancing will set the stage for a nice bicycle/wallpaper/drycleaning shop in the retail space that's expected to open up shortly in Wolseley where the two organic foodstores are duking it out for the granola belt's loyalties. (Check out The Meatrix for a nice pro-veggie bit of Flash animation.) There is usually only one winner... and it will be Unger's Bike and Paper Hanging and Cleaning Emporium. The primary news should increase Unger's time for riding bike and coming to meetings anyway. Not mentioned directly, but strongly inferred was the fact that Jonny and Charlene are great with child. No predictions should be made on how this affects his time riding bike...
The bike club shirt saga is about to come to a close.
The last available bike club shirt should perhaps never really have been considered "available" as such. It is being hand-delivered to the Duke at the Chicken Chef in Altona tomorrow noon. The transaction will hopefully slip under the storey starved vigilance of the local press. Better not to attract too much attention...
While it seemed that Duke was not fielding his physical presence at bike club gatherings, this quote from a recent email makes it clear that he is the rightful owner of the shirt, and not Bechtel, as the pendulum had been swinging...
"As for Bechtel's supposed claims...what can I say? He is on the left
side of right but I can claim better intentions than he so with that
moral authority I claim the shirt as rightfully mine."
Thus saith the Duke. Who's going to argue with that?
As a visual post script, you may want to point your browser to this link to a picture of the inside of my shoulder on the media page of our site. It's a little tough to tell what's what, so I have annotated it. Good luck.
How's this for a list of goods for those present:
Jonny: helmut (after my "helmet" misspelling in the previous post, i feel i might stick with the slightly revised version... this would not be a bad name for the kid Jonny); bike stand (for cleaning/tuning, not "kick stand" apparently); jersey; bike tool.
Juan: bike computer
Unger: bike computer; socks; under-the-helmut toque
Chris: big $$ racing helmut; shoes; socks; sunglasses
Penner: (not actually present at the meeting due to work commitments) helmut; clipless pedals
Bergen: jersey; back flashing safety light
Luke: winter riding jersey
James: balaclava
the secretary: as mentioned below in the previous post.
Some excitement surfaced about the spring ride. Location was, predictably, the priority. Spruce Woods got some very good billing. It seems many of us were looking forward to another spring ride.
Juan shared about his latest wipe-out in Assiniboine Park, and we heard about Chris crashing because a dog swerved at him. The trials of hardcore winter riding.
In related news.
The bike club shirt saga is about to come to a close.
The last available bike club shirt should perhaps never really have been considered "available" as such. It is being hand-delivered to the Duke at the Chicken Chef in Altona tomorrow noon. The transaction will hopefully slip under the storey starved vigilance of the local press. Better not to attract too much attention...
While it seemed that Duke was not fielding his physical presence at bike club gatherings, this quote from a recent email makes it clear that he is the rightful owner of the shirt, and not Bechtel, as the pendulum had been swinging...
"As for Bechtel's supposed claims...what can I say? He is on the left
side of right but I can claim better intentions than he so with that
moral authority I claim the shirt as rightfully mine."
Thus saith the Duke. Who's going to argue with that?
As a visual post script, you may want to point your browser to this link to a picture of the inside of my shoulder on the media page of our site. It's a little tough to tell what's what, so I have annotated it. Good luck.
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